A Systematic Methodology Based on Word Embedding for Identifying the Relation Between Online Customer Reviews and Sales Rank

In the buying decision process, online reviews become an important source of information. They become the basis of evaluating alternatives before making purchase decision. This paper proposes a methodology to reveal one of the hidden alternative evaluation processes by identifying the relation between the observable online customer reviews and sales rank. This methodology applies a combined approach of word embedding (word2vec) and X-means clustering, which produces product-feature words. It is followed by identifying sentiment words and their intensity, determining connection of words from dependency tree, and finally relating variables from the reviews to the sales rank of a product by a regression model. The methodology is applied to two data sets of wearable technology and laptop products. As implied by the high predicted R-squared values, the models are generalizable into new data sets. Among the interesting findings are the statements of problems or issues of a product are related to better sales rank, and many product features that are mentioned in the review title are significantly related to sales rank. For product designers, the significant variables in the regression models suggest the possible product features to be improved.