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Supervisors: Sascha Steinmann & Birger Boutrup Jensen
Discussants: Irene Pollach & Marija Banovic

Abstract
In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art literature on the design of online review systems and their impacts on consumer behaviour and online retailers’ performance with the aim of identifying research gaps related to different design features of review systems and developing an agenda for future research. The research is conducted with a systematic review approach based on PRISMA 2020 protocol. The review with a total of 48 included papers is to investigate the design of retailer review systems and design features. We find that there are eight design features that can be included in a review system. The design features have been researched independently in previous literature and also some features receive more attention than the others. For example, 30 out of 48 papers focus on adapted metrics while other features are generally neglected. None of the papers in marketing and retailing fields have addressed a multi-feature review system. Previous literature argues that each of these design features affects consumer behaviours and retailers’ performance in different ways. However, the correlation among the features and how they support each other in a multi-feature review system is still neglected in literature which lead to a relevant gap for future relevant. This paper is – to the best of our knowledge – the first one to come up with the definitions of different types of review systems. We also summarize the state-of-the-art of relevant literature on design features of review systems and their effects on consumer- and retailer- related outcome variables. Furthermore, the study is also among the first studies that make a distinction between online reviews provided on websites hosted and controlled by retailers and third-party websites.

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