After Auction's Complete

Abstract

This case study aims to investigate buyers' post-purchase behavior on feedback ratings. From the data collected from eBay, the statistical analysis shows that the average time length that buyers post their feedback after auctions completion is 15.5 days. New sellers and experienced sellers have different chances to receive feedback. New sellers are more likely to receive negative feedback over positive feedback. The distribution of the feedback types (negative, neutral and positive) does not match that of their associated monetary volumes. This case study also demonstrates that inexperienced eBay buyers are more likely to post negative feedback ratings than experienced ones. New and used products attract different ratings in the three feedback types. With word cloud and word frequency analysis, the authors identify common issues associated with each of the three types of feedback. The paper also discusses the managerial implications and recommendations based on these findings.