Why Some Retailers Opt Out Of Customer Reviews

Like more than 27 million Canadians, Guang Li has embraced the convenience of online shopping. “I’m a mother. I shop a lot, and I really enjoy it,” says the associate professor of management science.

As a Scotiabank Scholar, an area of Li’s research focus is revenue management and retail operations. She’s drawn to topics she says are “challenging, novel, and relevant to business applications.” And her favourite personal pastime—online shopping—happened to inspire her latest line of inquiry.

“Whenever I shop online, I always check the reviews first—it’s almost a habit,” Li explains. Like most online shoppers, she relies on reviews to better understand a product, especially if she’s buying it for the first time. But she had started noticing something curious: not all retailers allow customer reviews, particularly high-end and luxury brands. 

“That made me wonder—why would a retailer choose not to offer reviews, especially if they’re selling high-quality products? Shouldn’t they want people to know how good their products are?”

Li’s observation sparked a collaboration with researchers Buqing Ma (University of Science and Technology of China) and Guangwen Kong (Temple University-Fox School of Business). The result was the research paper, To Hinder or to Facilitate: Retailers’ Strategy of Consumer Information Sharing.

Their study went deeper than the role online reviews play for consumers, to look at the entire supply chain. This allowed Li and her team to explore how reviews influence consumer trust, pricing strategies and overall profit margins.

“We found that the choice to allow or hinder reviews is a strategic one—it can help the retailer manage its profit margin, influence the manufacturer’s pricing, and even affect consumer surplus,” says Li. “It can be a subtle but powerful lever in the hands of a retailer.”

While conventional wisdom suggests that more information is better for consumers, the study found that the opposite can sometimes be true.

“That was one of the surprising and interesting findings in our research,” says Li. “Intuitively, we all think that giving consumers more information—like online reviews—helps them make better choices. And that is often true. But what we found is that, in certain situations, limiting information can benefit consumers.”

How so? For high-end retailers, not allowing reviews allows them to lean on their strong brand image—and protect it. “They want consumers to associate their products with high quality, exclusivity and prestige. That perception can be quite fragile,” says Li. “Even just a few negative reviews—or overly detailed ones—can introduce doubt or shift the focus away from the brand’s carefully crafted identity.”

By relying on their brand reputation, they can appeal to a broader customer base without triggering higher wholesale prices from manufacturers that would eat into their profit margin or be passed onto the customer via higher prices.

“Consumers tend to believe that a high-end brand offers good quality, even without detailed reviews,” Li explains. “Because of that belief, the retailer can confidently set a lower price and target a wider range of consumers, including those with lower willingness to pay. That leads to more people getting access to the product—and at a lower price.”

Low-end retailers, on the other hand, don’t usually have that luxury. Without reviews, consumers may grow suspicious or assume the product is low quality. “So, for them, being transparent—offering detailed reviews and even photos—is actually helpful,” Li says. “It builds trust and encourages purchases, especially from consumers who need more reassurance.”

Ultimately, review strategies send different signals depending on the retailer’s brand image. “High-end retailers can use their reputation as a kind of substitute for reviews,” says Li. “Low-end retailers need reviews to signal quality and gain credibility with shoppers.”

Li hopes this research encourages both retailers and consumers to think more critically about the role of information. For retailers, the key takeaway is that consumer reviews are not just about transparency—they’re a strategic tool, she says. “Whether to enable or restrict reviews should be a deliberate decision based on your brand position, customer base and how you work with suppliers. One-size-fits-all does not apply here. What works for a luxury retailer might backfire for a value-focused one, and vice versa.”

For consumers, Li hopes the study helps explain why some retailers don’t show reviews—and that it’s not necessarily a red flag. “Sometimes it’s a calculated move tied to the brand’s identity and pricing strategy,” she says.

Li’s next study focuses on how reviews interact with a firm’s pricing strategy over time, with a focus on new or experience-based products—like cosmetics, books or electronics—where quality is uncertain upfront.

“Consumers often rely on reviews to learn from early buyers before making their own decisions, which we call social learning,” she says. “But that creates a tension: if everyone waits, no one leaves reviews, and the learning breaks down. That is where pricing becomes a powerful tool.”