Platform Policies and Class : When are Hotels Prone to Rating Manipulation?

Customers of a business platform of an online travel agency learn about hotel quality from the displayed rating. Alas, this rating is exposed to manipulation by the hotels. The platform detects manipulations and imposes sanctions on violating hotels. This study shows that, surprisingly, harsh sanctions may encourage manipulation. In a more competitive market, there is less incentive to manipulate. In an empirical study, we analyze hotel reviews from Bangkok, Thailand. We find that low-class hotels are more prone to manipulations than hotels of higher classes