The effects of favorable review solicitations on repurchase decisions: A field experiment on an e-commerce platform

Abstract

Although offering cash-back for favorable reviews is a common marketing tactic on e-commerce platforms, its effects on the buyers who receive these incentives are poorly understood. We conducted a field experiment to examine how varying cash-back levels influence customer engagement with review solicitations and their subsequent repurchase decisions. The results show that larger cash-back amounts lead to significantly increased buyer participation in providing reviews. However, despite this elevated short-term engagement, the repurchase rates among these buyers decline substantially compared to a control group, regardless of the incentive size. This suggests that soliciting paid reviews may undermine long-term customer loyalty. This study thus provides novel empirical evidence on the unintended, negative long-term repercussions of paid review strategies, contributing to the literature on electronic commerce and consumer relationship management.