Differential Attrition

Differential Attrition

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

The proposal that customers with moderate experiences are more likely than those with extreme ones to drop out before posting a review.

What it is

Brandes, Godes and Mayzlin (2022) combined it with differences in utility in a model and found evidence for both in review data. It is drawn from work by Leif Brandes, David Godes and Dina Mayzlin (2022).

In effect

In the article on why we leave only extreme reviews, it is used to explain why an email asking for reviews reduced extremity in a field experiment.

What it does not say

It is one of two accounts of why reviews are extreme, and the authors found evidence for it alongside differences in utility. It does not claim that moderately satisfied customers never write reviews.

Sources

  1. Brandes, L., Godes, D., & Mayzlin, D. (2022). Extremity bias in online reviews: The role of attrition. Journal of Marketing Research, 59(4), 675-695.