Star Rating Research Articles

Pre-COVID-19 hospital quality and hospital response to COVID-19: examining associations between risk-adjusted mortality for patients hospitalised with COVID-19 and pre-COVID-19 hospital quality

ObjectivesThe extent to which care quality influenced outcomes for patients hospitalised with COVID-19 is unknown. Our objective was to determine if prepandemic hospital quality is associated with mortality among Medicare...

Application of the Non-Parametric Signals Test to a Company

Objective: The aim of this paper is to show the application of the Non-Parametric Sign Test in problems involving the testing of central tendency values. Theoretical framework: Non-parametric methods are widely used in the study of populations that are taken in rank order (such as a movie that receives one to four star ratings). The use of non-parametric methods may also be necessary when the data has a ranking but no clear numerical interpretation, such as when accessing preferences. In terms of scale, non-parametric methods result in data that is "in order" (Thatcher et al., 2005) Method: Data was taken from a company in the South of Rio de Janeiro and a case study was carried out using the Non-Parametric Sign Test. Final Considerations: Initially it proved unfeasible to use a Parametric Test because the Anderson-Darling Test showed that the Assumption of Normality was not confirmed and finally the Non-Parametric Sign Test showed that the hypothetical Median really is the correct measure of Central Tendency. Implications of the research: The use of Non-Parametric Tests is widespread in scientific literature and has proven to be highly effective in dealing with data where the assumptions of Normality are not confirmed. Originality/value: Despite being well-known statistical tools, Non-Parametric Tests are widely used and can bring innovations to their application, as in the case of the company in question.

Availability and Quality of Dialysis Care in Rural versus Urban US Counties

Introduction: Rural areas face significant disparities in dialysis care compared to urban areas due to limited access to dialysis facilities, longer travel distances, and a shortage of healthcare professionals. The objective of this study was to conduct a national examination of rural-urban differences in quality of dialysis care offered across counties in the USA. Methods: Data were gathered from Medicare-certified dialysis facilities in 2020 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website. To identify high-need counties, county-level estimated crude prevalence of diabetes in adults was obtained from the 2022 CDC PLACES data portal. Our analysis reviewed 3,141 counties in the USA. The primary outcome measured was whether the county had a dialysis facility. Among those counties that had a dialysis facility, additional outcomes were the average star rating, whether peritoneal dialysis was offered, and whether home dialysis was offered. Results: The type of services offered by dialysis facilities varied significantly, with peritoneal dialysis being the most commonly offered service (50.8%), followed by home hemodialysis (28.5%) and late-shift services (16.0%). These service availabilities are more prevalent in urban facilities than in rural facilities. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Five Star Quality ratings were quite different between urban and rural facilities, with 40.4% of rural facilities having a ranking of five, compared to 27.1% in urban. Conclusion: The majority of rural counties lack a single dialysis facility. Counties with high rates of chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and blood pressure, deemed high need, were less likely to have a highly rated dialysis facility. The findings can be used to further inform targeted efforts to increase diabetes educational programming and design appropriate interventions to those residing in rural communities and high-need counties who may need it the most.

Fostering green customer citizenship behavioral intentions through green hotel practices: the roles of pride, moral elevation, and hotel star ratings

In the past decade, hotels have increasingly adopted green practices due to heightened customers’ environmental concerns and a commitment to fostering sustainability. While the literature on green hotel practices is abundant, understanding customers’ extra-role behaviors in response to these practices remains a complex and underexplored area. This study, based on social exchange theory, examines how perceptions of green hotel practices boost customer citizenship behavioral intentions (green CCBi). It further explores the mediating mechanisms of pride and moral elevation and the moderating mechanism of hotel star ratings in this association. The proposed hypotheses were tested utilizing a multi-method quantitative approach with data collected from hotel guests in Taiwan. Findings from the survey (N = 407) reveal that green practices have a positive and direct effect on green CCBi and have indirect effects through pride and moral elevation. Furthermore, the impacts of green hotel practices on green CCBi, pride, and moral elevation are stronger for higher-star-rated hotels. These findings are reinforced by the results of the two experiments (N = 492). The insights guide hotel managers and policymakers in crafting more effective green strategies to evoke customers’ positive emotions and voluntary behavior among customers.

Identifying Always-the-Same-Rating Reviewers on Amazon.Com Using Big Data Analytics

This study identifies “always-the-same-rating” reviewers (ASRs), that is, reviewers who give the same star rating for all reviewed products and who write many reviews on Amazon. This study identifies ASRs in 29 product categories by analyzing 230 million individual reviews on Amazon. The findings of this study show that: 1) all product categories contain reviews written by ASRs; 2) the majority of ASRs (99.99%) give the same star rating for all reviewed products in all categories; and 3) the rating distribution of ASRs’ reviews is extremely skewed toward the five-star rating (98.02%). The digital music category, in particular, shows a high share and volume of ASRs among all categories, making it an ideal focal category for further empirical analysis of ASRs. This study empirically demonstrates that star rating, the helpfulness of reviews, the length of headline and review, prior reviews, and holidays are potential indicators of reviews written by ASRs. The finding shows that reviews from verified and nonverified ASRs respond differently to some potential indicators. This article is the first step toward identifying irregular reviewer groups and their abnormal rating patterns, which would help in the segmentation of online consumers and a better understanding of online consumer review behaviors.

Missed opportunities in hospital quality measurement during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective investigation of US hospitals’ CMS Star Ratings and 30-day mortality during the early pandemic

ObjectivesIn the USA and UK, pandemic-era outcome data have been excluded from hospital rankings and pay-for-performance programmes. We assessed the relationship between US hospitals’ pre-pandemic Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...

Do Quality Measures or Hospital Characteristics Predict Readmission Penalties for Hip and Knee Arthroplasty?

BackgroundQuality rating systems exist to grade the value of care provided by hospitals, but the extent to which these rating systems correlate with patient outcomes is unclear. The association of quality rating systems and hospital characteristics with excess readmission penalties for total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) was studied. MethodsThe fiscal year 2022 Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule was used to identify 2,286 hospitals subject to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. Overall, 6 hospital quality rating systems and 5 hospital characteristics were obtained. These factors were analyzed to determine the effect on hospital penalties for THA and TKA excess readmissions. ResultsHospitals that achieved a higher Medicare Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating demonstrated a significantly lower likelihood of receiving THA and TKA readmission penalties (Cramer’s V = 0.236 and Rp = −0.233; P < .001 for both). Hospitals ranked among the US News & World Report’s top 50 best hospitals for orthopaedics were significantly less likely to be penalized (V = 0.042; P = .043). The remaining 4 quality rating systems were not associated with readmission penalties. Penalization was more likely for hospitals with fewer THA and TKA discharges (Rp = −0.142; P < .001), medium-sized institutions (100 to 499 beds; V = 0.075; P = .002), teaching hospitals (V = 0.049; P = .019), and safety net hospitals (V = 0.043; P = .039). Penalization was less likely for West and Midwest hospitals (V = 0.112; P < .001). ConclusionsA higher Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating and recognition among the US News & World Report’s top 50 orthopaedic hospitals were associated with a reduced likelihood of THA and TKA readmission penalties. The other 4 widely accepted quality rating systems did not correlate with readmission penalties. Teaching and safety net hospitals may be biased toward higher readmission rates.

Public Reporting and Consumer Demand in the Home Health Sector.

Health care report cards improve information and are a crucial part of health care reform of the federal government of the United States. I exploit a natural experiment in the home health sector to assess whether a higher rating under the star ratings program affects patient choice. Higher rated agencies increased their market share by 1.4% or 0.25 (95% confidence interval: [-0.63, 1.12]) percentage points, a practically and statistically insignificant amount. I find no evidence of heterogeneous effects across the rating distribution or over time. I also find precise null effects among consumers expected to be more responsive, including community-entry patients and patients in competitive markets with more options and star types. Agencies may have modestly impeded consumer choice by engaging in some patient selection behaviors, although the evidence is only weakly suggestive. The star ratings are unlikely to improve home health quality despite continued policymaker interest.

Understanding consumer herding behavior in online purchases and its implications for online retailers and marketers

Herding behavior refers to the imitation of the behavior of the masses. The primary purpose of this study is to determine how herding affects digital purchases. It is an under-researched area in the marketing and consumer behavior context. First, one needs to understand the circumstances under which one is likely to herd. Second, it is yet to be understood how the effect of observing others' buying behavior transmits into herding. Third, there needs to be a better understanding of the role of price in one's tendency to herd. An online experiment with 541 participants was conducted using a 3 (consumer ratings/sales volume/control) × 2 (high involvement product/low involvement product) between-subjects design. LED TV was selected as a high-involvement product and ball pen pack was selected as a low-involvement product. This research study combined three theories to propose a holistic herding model. It used the social impact theory to capture its persuasive impact, the information adoption model to analyze the acceptance of herding information, and the cue utilization theory to assess the inference from herding information in consumer decision-making. Results indicated significant negative moderating effects of perceived price and product knowledge and the positive moderating effect of perceived uncertainty between the relationship of herding cues (star rating and the number of products sold) and herding behavior. In addition, the mediating results of perceived information usefulness and perceived quality were also significant. This herding model provides a holistic view of the herding process beyond limiting it to an attempt to follow others blindly. Therefore, this study has both theoretical as well as managerial implications.

Enrollment Patterns of Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries by Dental, Vision, and Hearing Benefits

Most Medicare beneficiaries now choose to enroll in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Racial and ethnic minority group and low-income beneficiaries are increasingly enrolling in MA plans. To examine whether dental, vision, and hearing supplemental benefits offered in MA plans are associated with the plan choices of traditionally underserved Medicare beneficiaries. This exploratory observational cross-sectional study used data from the 2018 to 2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey linked to MA plan benefits. The nationally representative sample comprised primarily community-dwelling MA beneficiaries enrolled in general enrollment MA plans. Data analysis was performed between April and October 2023. Beneficiary self-identified race and ethnicity and combined individual and spouse income and educational attainment. Binary indicators were developed to determine whether beneficiaries were enrolled in a plan offering any dental, comprehensive dental, any vision, eyewear, any hearing, or hearing aid benefit. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were estimated to report average marginal effects adjusted for beneficiary-level demographic and health characteristics, plan attributes, and plan availability. This study included 8139 (weighted N = 31 million) eligible MA beneficiaries, with a mean (SD) age of 77.7 (7.5) years. More than half of beneficiaries (54.9%) were women; 9.8% self-identified as Black, 2.0% as Hispanic, 83.9% as White, and 4.2% as other or multiple races or ethnicities. Plan choices by dental benefits were examined among 7516 beneficiaries who were not enrolled in any dental standalone plan, by vision benefits for 8026 beneficiaries not enrolled in any vision standalone plan, and by hearing benefits for 8131 beneficiaries not enrolled in any hearing standalone plan. Black beneficiaries were more likely to enroll in plans with any dental benefit (9.0 percentage points [95% CI, 3.4-14.4]; P < .001), any comprehensive dental benefit (11.2 percentage points [95% CI, 5.7-16.7]; P < .001), any eye benefit (3.0 percentage points [95% CI, 1.0 to 5.0]; P = .004), or any eyewear benefit (6.0 percentage points [95% CI, 0.6-11.5]; P = .03) compared with White beneficiaries. Lower-income individuals (earning ≤200% of the federal poverty level) were more likely to enroll in a plan with a comprehensive dental benefit (4.4 percentage-point difference [95% CI, 0.1-7.9]; P = .01) compared with higher-income beneficiaries. Beneficiaries without a college degree were more likely to enroll in a plan with a comprehensive dental benefit (4.7 percentage-point difference [95% CI, 1.4-8.0]; P = .005) compared with those with higher educational attainment. The results of this study suggest that racial and ethnic minority individuals and those with lower income or educational attainment are more likely to choose MA plans with dental or vision benefits. As the federal government prepares to adjust MA plan star ratings for health equity, implements MA payment cuts, and allows increasing flexibility in supplemental benefit offerings, these findings may inform benefit monitoring for MA.

Combined sentiment score and star rating analysis of travel destination prediction based on user preference using morphological linear neural network model with correlated topic modelling approach

Combined sentiment score and star rating analysis of travel destination prediction based on user preference using morphological linear neural network model with correlated topic modelling approach

Understanding the relationships between hotel variables in Almaty, Kazakhstan: an investigation using booking.com data

Object: The purpose of this article is to study relationships between hotel variables such as star ratings, prices, customer ratings, distance from the city center, and review numbers for hotels in Almaty, Kazakhstan.Methods: Data for this study was collected quantitatively from Booking.com using the web scraping tool Parsehub, a popular tool in contemporary research for web data extraction. Following data collection and the removal of missing data, 69 cases out of 96 were retained. To address the research questions, the study uses descriptive statistics to analyze data by star rating categories, performs One Way ANOVA test to determine differences between variables, and conducts correlation analysis. The analysis tools used include Jamovi and SPSS 23.Findings: The findings indicate significant differences in customer ratings based on star ratings, a positive correlation between star ratings and prices, a weak, negative relationship between customer ratings and distance from the city center, and a weak positive correlation between review numbers and customer ratings.Conclusions: These insights contribute to a better understanding of the hotel industry in Almaty. Results demonstrate the importance of star ratings, customer reviews, price, and location in understanding the dynamics of the hotel market.

How Do Consumers Interact with Digital Expert Advice? Experimental Evidence from Health Insurance

Consumers increasingly use digital advice when making purchasing decisions. How do such tools change consumer behavior and what types of consumers are likely to use them? We examine these questions with a randomized controlled trial of digital expert advice in the context of prescription drug insurance. The intervention we study was effective at changing consumer choices. We propose that, conceptually, expert advice can affect consumer choices through two distinct channels: by updating consumer beliefs about product features (learning) and by influencing how much consumers value product features (interpretation). Using our trial data to estimate a model of consumer demand, we find that both channels are quantitatively important. Digital expert advice tools not only provide consumers with information, but also alter how consumers value product features. For example, consumers are willing to pay 14% less for a plan with the most popular brand and 37% less for an extra star rating when they incorporate digital expert advice on plan choice relative to only having information about product features. Further, we document substantial selection into the use of digital advice on two margins. Consumers who are inherently less active shoppers and those who we predict would have responded to advice more were less likely to demand it. Our results raise concerns regarding the ability of digital advice to alter consumer preferences as well as the distributional implications of greater access to digital expert advice. This paper was accepted by Stefan Scholtes, healthcare management. Funding: This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging [Grant K01AG059843] and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute [Grant CDR-1306-03598]. The project also received financial support from Stanford Innovation Funds. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.02453 .

Five Is the Brightest Star. But by how Much? Testing the Equidistance of Star Ratings in Online Reviews

Organizational research increasingly relies on online review data to gauge perceived valuation and reputation of organizations and products. Online review platforms typically collect ordinal ratings (e.g., 1 to 5 stars); however, researchers often treat them as a cardinal data, calculating aggregate statistics such as the average, the median, or the variance of ratings. In calculating these statistics, ratings are implicitly assumed to be equidistant. We test whether star ratings are equidistant using reviews from two large-scale online review platforms: Amazon.com and Yelp.com. We develop a deep learning framework to analyze the text of the reviews in order to assess their overall valuation. We find that 4 and 5-star ratings, as well as 1 and 2-star ratings, are closer to each other than 3-star ratings are to 2 and 4-star ratings. An additional online experiment corroborates this pattern. Using simulations, we show that the distortion by non-equidistant ratings is especially harmful in cases when organizations receive only a few reviews and when researchers are interested in estimating variance effects. We discuss potential solutions to solve the issue with rating non-equidistance.

Assessing the Benefits and Downsides of Physician Review Websites to Plastic Surgeons: A Cost-Benefit Analysis.

Patients often evaluate the reputations of plastic surgeons based on their performances on physician review websites. This article aims to compare rating methodologies and conduct a cost-benefit analysis of physician review websites to further understand how plastic surgeons and their patients can utilize review websites to inform their practice and care. A review of online literature, blogs, and 17 of the most common physician review websites was conducted to identify information on review website methodology, cost, and benefits most pertinent to plastic surgeons and their patients. Physician review websites utilize various combinations of physician-related and unrelated criteria to evaluate plastic surgeons. Across 17 reviewed platforms, most (71%) utilize star ratings to rate physicians, 18% require an appointment to conduct a review, and 35% feature search engine optimization. Many websites (53%) allow physicians to pay for benefits or extension packages, with benefits offered including advertising, search engine optimization, competitor blocking, social media marketing, consultant services, and data analytics. Competitor blocking was provided by the most number of websites who offered additional services for pay (78%). Appointments are not required to post physician reviews on many review websites, and many websites allow physicians to purchase packages to enhance their search engine optimization or consumer reach. Accordingly, plastic surgeons' reputations on review websites may be influenced by factors extraneous to actual patient care. Patients and physicians should be cognizant that physician review websites may not be reflective of factors related to quality of patient care.

Customers' emotional impact on star rating and thumbs-up behavior towards food delivery service Apps

Customers' emotional impact on star rating and thumbs-up behavior towards food delivery service Apps

A synthetic measure for ranking overall satisfaction based on multidimensional ordinal data. The case of airlines on the TripAdvisor website

A multi-criteria method has been proposed to measure global consumer satisfaction by handling graphical information represented in circles or star ratings available on the website for several criteria. The Synthetic Measure for Ordinal Data (SMOD) is based on Hellwig’s framework measuring distances between the object and the ideal object. In the construction of the synthetic measure, the distance between the ideal and anti-ideal object is also used. GDM2 distance measure was used for the calculation of distances between objects evaluated by ordinal scale. The proposed framework can be an alternative for the fuzzy or intuitionistic fuzzy transformations of linguistic data into fuzzy context. The SMOD method was applied for evaluation and ranking airlines based on passengers’ reviews accessed on the TripAdvisor website. We found that the proposed multi-criteria method enables us to discriminate and rank airlines based on incomplete information presented on this website. According to SMOD, the best is Singapore Airlines, while the last is Air China when considering Star Alliance members.

Enhancing Educational Environments: Retrofitting for Improved Accessibility and Inclusion of Person with disabilities (PWDs) in Schools

Accessibility and inclusion of Persons with disabilities (PWDs) is an essential requirement in every school building. This is in line with the latest amendments to Uniform Building By-Laws 2022 gazetted by the Sabah Local Government, and Malaysian Standard (MS). All public buildings including schools, were made compulsory to provide accessibility and inclusion of Persons with disabilities (PWDs). A lack of accessibility contributed to dull educational environments for teachers and students. The aim of this research is to develope a framework for enhancing educational environments for retrofitting existing schools. Research method employed for this study is data collection from questionnaire gathered from the overall school’s plan layout with building retrofit of Universal Design (UD) elements and access audit for star rating compliance with inclusive design assessment. It is also an opportunity to identify any issues with school constraints that make it difficult to meet the Uniform Building By-Laws (UBBL) requirements through the focus group access audit group. Research finding shows that less building retrofit elements been built according to the Malaysian Standards (MS) to schools in Kota Kinabalu. In conclusion, all existing and current-use schools are deserved to be retrofitted with quality Universal Design (UD) elements such as ramps, handrails, disabled car parks, covered walkways, signage, wayfinding, lift, disabled-toilet, etc. Thus, the level of accessibility can be achieved with satisfaction and equivalency to Malaysian Standard through the introducing of framework for enhancing educational environments of retrofitting Inclusive design for PWDs.

Trends (2014-2018) in the healthiness of packaged food purchases of Australian consumers before and after the introduction of voluntary Health Star Rating nutrition labels.

To evaluate the trends in the healthiness of packaged food purchases of Australian consumers before and after the introduction of the Health Star Rating (HSR) nutrition labels. Panel data analysis and difference-in-differences analysis. The Australian Government endorsed HSR nutrition labels for voluntary implementation on packaged foods in June 2014. We analyse the packaged food purchases of households across all major supermarkets before (January 2014 to June 2014) and after (June 2014-Dec 2018) the introduction of HSR. 6284 members of a panel of households across Australia reporting their grocery purchases to a market research company (Nielsen Homescan panel). The healthiness of household food purchases exhibited a U-shaped trend - decreasing from 2014 to 2017, and then increasing from 2018, corresponding to the time when a higher proportion of products were HSR-labelled. Households that purchased a higher proportion of HSR-labelled products had healthier household purchases overall. Further, the healthiness of households' category-specific food purchases was positively associated with the proportion of HSR-labelled products in categories where HSR was adopted, relative to control categories where HSR was not adopted. In Australia, once a substantial number of packaged food products adopted the voluntary HSR summary indicator, we observed an increasing trend in the healthiness of household food purchases. Widespread adoption of a nutrition summary indicator, such as HSR, on packaged food is likely to be beneficial for population health.

Phenomenology of Consumer Satisfaction through Improving Service Quality in Kediri Banana Chips MSMEs Post Pandemic

This research aims to determine the phenomenology of consumer satisfaction through service quality at banana chips MSMEs in Kediri - East Java. Banana chips MSMEs consistently improve services, through information technology-based integrated services, creating productive human resources, encouraging digital transformation and sustainable innovation. In order to achieve this goal, the Kediri banana chips MSME seeks to improve the quality of service for consumers and customers in order to increase MSME income, one of the efforts to improve the welfare of its employees. There are 15 employees at this MSME with clear and transparent respective duties. The method used by these MSMEs in the last six months is to train their employees in dealing with consumers and support with technological knowledge as a tool used to promote products in a sustainable manner using existing e-commerce and social media. Survey service quality and consumer satisfaction through interviews, statements, star ratings along with constructive criticism and suggestions to increase MSME profits and consumer trust. There were 10 informants from the consumer side. Apart from getting feedback on the services provided, it can also be used as a means of providing information to the public as consumers. Using qualitative methods with a narrative phenomenological analysis model which is a description of the experiences of the informants.