We use the Average with Prior (also known as Bayesian Average) to calculate the total rating for each fleet operator/charter company.
Since new companies could have very few reviews, each review can significantly impact the average score, potentially leading to misleading representations of the total score (e.g., one very positive or very negative review skewing the overall rating). To mitigate this, we use a "prior" or "default" score.
This means that each company rating, by default, starts 4, which is calculated from 5 hypothetical reviews, each rated 4. This assumption provides a baseline level of performance that is neutral-to-positive.
For example, if a new company receives a 5-star review, the total rating will be adjusted to 4.17. Here's how it is calculated: (4 × 5) + 5 = 25 and then divided by the total number of reviews 6 (5 default + 1 actual review), resulting in 4.17
As more reviews come in, the weight of the actual reviews increases, and the influence of the prior diminishes.
