Shankar Gupta of MediaPost digs deeper on the PriceRitePhoto controversy this morning by raising broader questions about the integrity of consumer-generated ratings on sites like PriceGrabber and Yahoo:Shopping. Expect a ton of CGM on this topic, especially on Slashdot. ClickZ's Pamela Parker, meanwhile, offers additional perspective on BzzAgent's recent "disclosure policy" ("Spill the Beans, or Else!"). Speaking of which, Dr. Walter Carl, a word-of-mouth academic pioneer, and early supporter of WOMMA, tees up this excellent question to my "Is Disclosure Good?" post, which I need to mull over before offering a thoughtful response or counter-point. Importantly, he highlights a potential distinction "between compensation and reward." He notes:
"...being paid (compensated) to spread word-of-mouth might invoke a different set of inferences than receiving rewards (for example, if somebody from my gym becomes a member and mentions my name when they sign up then my membership fee is waived for a month; that is, my reward)."
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