---
_id: '60050'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Reputation systems to rate companies’ performances remain largely unexplored
inresearch and are scarcely used in business-to-business (B2B) practice. Such
systemsare essential for businesses seeking trustworthy partners, as they help
reduce infor-mation asymmetry, lower buyers’ transaction risks, and allow high-quality
serviceproviders to justify premium pricing. Unlike traditional review-based systems
in thebusiness-to-consumer (B2C) context, we propose a B2B reputation mechanism
inwhich buyers commit to a rating payment before a transaction. Once the buyer
final-izes the rating, this payment is executed and recorded on a blockchain as
an immu-table, secure ledger. Our system mimics natural trust-building mechanisms
with rat-ings that are (1) monetary-based, (2) stake-based, (3) non-aggregated,
(4) involvecounter-ratings, (5) selectively sellable, (6) individually comparable,
(7) stored ona blockchain, (8) and monitored by a third instance. This system
provides a novelapproach to fostering trust in B2B transactions by reducing information
asymme-try and transaction risk. We illustrate the mechanism’s application in
the consultingsector. Our analysis has identified 23 institutional trust and distrust
dimensions thatpromote establishing institutional trust through the proposed mechanism.
Qualita-tive interviews suggest that, while complex and challenging to apply,
this mecha-nism can foster trust in B2B transactions. Given the low maturity in
the applicationdomain—rating professional business services with business reputation
systems—and solution domain—using monetary stakes for ratings, this system stands
as apotential invention.
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Simon
full_name: Hemmrich, Simon
id: '83557'
last_name: Hemmrich
- first_name: Volker
full_name: Nissen, Volker
last_name: Nissen
- first_name: Daniel
full_name: Beverungen, Daniel
id: '59677'
last_name: Beverungen
- first_name: Josias Daniel Miño
full_name: Pauls, Josias Daniel Miño
last_name: Pauls
citation:
ama: 'Hemmrich S, Nissen V, Beverungen D, Pauls JDM. Blockchain‑based reputation
systemsfor business‑to‑business services: designing a reputation mechanism to
reduce information asymmetry in professional consulting. Information Systems
and e-Business Management. 2025;23(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-025-00702-9'
apa: 'Hemmrich, S., Nissen, V., Beverungen, D., & Pauls, J. D. M. (2025). Blockchain‑based
reputation systemsfor business‑to‑business services: designing a reputation mechanism
to reduce information asymmetry in professional consulting. Information Systems
and E-Business Management, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-025-00702-9'
bibtex: '@article{Hemmrich_Nissen_Beverungen_Pauls_2025, title={Blockchain‑based
reputation systemsfor business‑to‑business services: designing a reputation mechanism
to reduce information asymmetry in professional consulting}, volume={23}, DOI={https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-025-00702-9},
number={1}, journal={Information Systems and e-Business Management}, publisher={Springer},
author={Hemmrich, Simon and Nissen, Volker and Beverungen, Daniel and Pauls, Josias
Daniel Miño}, year={2025} }'
chicago: 'Hemmrich, Simon, Volker Nissen, Daniel Beverungen, and Josias Daniel Miño
Pauls. “Blockchain‑based Reputation Systemsfor Business‑to‑business Services:
Designing a Reputation Mechanism to Reduce Information Asymmetry in Professional
Consulting.” Information Systems and E-Business Management 23, no. 1 (2025).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-025-00702-9.'
ieee: 'S. Hemmrich, V. Nissen, D. Beverungen, and J. D. M. Pauls, “Blockchain‑based
reputation systemsfor business‑to‑business services: designing a reputation mechanism
to reduce information asymmetry in professional consulting,” Information Systems
and e-Business Management, vol. 23, no. 1, 2025, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-025-00702-9.'
mla: 'Hemmrich, Simon, et al. “Blockchain‑based Reputation Systemsfor Business‑to‑business
Services: Designing a Reputation Mechanism to Reduce Information Asymmetry in
Professional Consulting.” Information Systems and E-Business Management,
vol. 23, no. 1, Springer, 2025, doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-025-00702-9.'
short: S. Hemmrich, V. Nissen, D. Beverungen, J.D.M. Pauls, Information Systems
and E-Business Management 23 (2025).
date_created: 2025-05-28T08:12:28Z
date_updated: 2026-04-02T04:32:13Z
ddc:
- '000'
department:
- _id: '195'
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-025-00702-9
external_id:
unknown:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-025-00702-9
file:
- access_level: closed
content_type: application/pdf
creator: hemmrich
date_created: 2025-05-28T08:05:18Z
date_updated: 2025-05-28T08:05:18Z
file_id: '60051'
file_name: Hemmrich_et_al-2025-Information_Systems_and_e-Business_Management.pdf
file_size: 1440251
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2025-05-28T08:05:18Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 23'
issue: '1'
jel:
- D81
- D82
- L86
- L10
- M30
keyword:
- Information asymmetry
- Trust
- Reputation system
- Monetary rating
- Blockchain
- Consulting
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s10257-025-00702-9?sharing_token=fOiWqZx_ScKFAKjxu5UqWPe4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY6mjxpZFPB3OtpVT0rAZf9eEBt3_qXIVcZ67l3R9JVYasmuCsIimzE-xfP0N5Rimun248j0jFOnL1eBu4rypKSDFnbmR3kJ5xx-HLnCXvPvQPwpm09qOkS9GSNsiG-du60%3D
oa: '1'
publication: Information Systems and e-Business Management
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: 'Blockchain‑based reputation systemsfor business‑to‑business services: designing
a reputation mechanism to reduce information asymmetry in professional consulting'
type: journal_article
user_id: '83557'
volume: 23
year: '2025'
...