In today’s era of smartphones, thousands of mobile games are freely available on app stores. With vast number of games to choose from, most consumers rely on user rating and online reviews as references to make decisions. Therefore, it is extremely important for companies to understand the relationship between them and what impact does one has on another.

User rating is a numerical evaluation of products or services, while online review is an electronically written user feedback. These forms of electronic word-of-mouth is perceived as more trustworthy than formal marketing messages.

The aim of this research is to study the impact of online reviews on user rating of a mobile game by conducting an experiment with three types of review valences: positive, negative, and moderate. 20 surveys from each valence type were collected for a total of 60 surveys. Survey collects two kinds of rating data: Gaming experience rating and Attribute rating. The data was tested with One Sample T-test in SPSS.

The results reveal that positive reviews had the biggest impact on both gaming experience and attribute ratings, showing positive effect on user rating. Negative and moderate reviews had the identical impact on user rating, showing no positive effect. Key attributes in user rating were Gameplay, Mechanics, and In-Game Advertisements. Therefore, companies should prioritize Gameplay and Mechanics while at the same time limiting the number of In-Game Advertisements.

In today’s era of smartphones, thousands of mobile games are freely available on app stores. With vast number of games to choose from, most consumers rely on user rating and online reviews as references to make decisions. Therefore, it is extremely important for companies to understand the relationship between them and what impact does one has on another.

User rating is a numerical evaluation of products or services, while online review is an electronically written user feedback. These forms of electronic word-of-mouth is perceived as more trustworthy than formal marketing messages.

The aim of this research is to study the impact of online reviews on user rating of a mobile game by conducting an experiment with three types of review valences: positive, negative, and moderate. 20 surveys from each valence type were collected for a total of 60 surveys. Survey collects two kinds of rating data: Gaming experience rating and Attribute rating. The data was tested with One Sample T-test in SPSS.

The results reveal that positive reviews had the biggest impact on both gaming experience and attribute ratings, showing positive effect on user rating. Negative and moderate reviews had the identical impact on user rating, showing no positive effect. Key attributes in user rating were Gameplay, Mechanics, and In-Game Advertisements. Therefore, companies should prioritize Gameplay and Mechanics while at the same time limiting the number of In-Game Advertisements.

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