The Impact of Online Q&As on Product Sales: The Case of Amazon Answer
利用两个零售网站的自然实验数据，发现问答功能中答案深度和问题回答率正向影响体验品销量，且不同内容导向的问题和正负面答案效果各异，对平台管理有参考价值。
This study uses observational data from two online retail sites to examine the effect of questions and answers on sales of experience goods. Particularly, we leverage the naturally occurring experiment where the Q&A capabilities are available on only one platform. Interestingly, we discover that answers, especially the depth of answers, positively affect sales. Additionally, the fraction of questions with at least one answer positively and significantly affects product sales. Our additional textual content analyses unveil that fit- and quality-oriented questions have different effects on sales, as do positive and negative answers. Insights from this work can help platform managers develop Q&A ecosystems and content management policies.