I'll get straight to it.

Let's say you have two listings, one on Amazon.Japan and one on Amazon.US, sharing the same SKUs, do the review ratings work independently? I understand they're linked for a total global count, but that's not my focus. Specifically, if on Amazon Japan I receive 10, 1-star reviews, and on Amazon US I receive 10, 5-star reviews, how would these ratings be displayed across the two markets?

Option 1: Would it appear as:

Amazon US: 5 stars, [20 reviews shown]

Amazon Japan: 1 star, [20 reviews shown]

Option 2: Or would the ratings be averaged out, displaying:

Amazon US: 2.5 stars, [20 reviews shown]

Amazon Japan: 2.5 stars, [20 reviews shown]

I'm seeking clarity on how these ratings reflect on each market individually because I want to expand to the Japanese market but I am aware that customers there are more critical of rating things 5 stars in Japan. Therefore, I do not want my US listings' average to be reduced because of this. If they are affected this way, then it would be in my best interest to create new SKUs and start the listing fresh in the new marketplace to avoid the risk.

I suppose another question arises: Are you actually permitted to create new listings with separate EANs and SKUs on different markets, or are you required to link them according to Amazon's Terms and Conditions?"

If you believe you have the answer, can you confirm it by sending a link to the information on where to find it, I have looked everywhere and can't find the answer.

Thanks so much!