This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where users can view the reviews, sells information to third parties about consumer tendencies, and creates databases for companies to learn about their actual and potential customers.
Many of these systems calculate an approximate average assessment, usually based on assigning a numeric value to each review related to its degree of positive rating of the work.
[citation needed] Review aggregation sites have begun to have economic effects on the companies that create or manufacture items under review, especially in certain categories such as electronic games, which are expensive to purchase.
[1][2] It is widely accepted in the literature that there is a strong correlation between sales and aggregated scores.
[4] In the film industry, according to Reuters, big studios pay attention to aggregators but "they don't always like to assign much importance to them".