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The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) introduced a Partnership Engage Grant in 2017 to better address the short-term needs, challenges and opportunities of researchers and institutions.

Congratulations to Warut Khern-am-nuai, Assistant Professor in Information Systems, for his 2017 SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant.

Closer look at online reviews: discovering underlying structures and hidden values

Millions of consumers today rely heavily on online reviews. We consult this form of public opinion in various occasions ranging from reserving a hotel to buying an electronic appliance. Ample evidence has confirmed the influence that reviews have on consumer perception, belief, and purchasing behavior. As a result, large online retailers that possess reviews data have immensely invested in analyzing the reviews to enhance their competitive edge.

However, knowledge regarding the methodology and managerial insights surrounding the in-depth analysis of reviews data is mostly contained within the boundary of a few mega corporations. Meanwhile, small and medium firms are struggling to conduct their own analysis due to the limitation in resources and guidance from the literature.

At the same time, researchers in the public sector are unable to utilize their expertise in this regard because they lack access to a complete reviews dataset. This gap in knowledge has further divided big firms from small and medium ones in terms of their data utilization, and eventually their performance.

This research project aims to assist the industry partner by offering guidance on the usage of novel machine learning algorithms to uncover the underlying structure and hidden values of online reviews.