Study: Negative Online Reviews Influence 80 Percent of Shoppers
Study: Negative Online Reviews Influence 80 Percent of Shoppers
Posted 08/31/2011 at 6:54am
| by Paul Lilly
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Imagine you found a great deal on a flux capacitor. Not only does it make time travel possible, but the new version is able to freeze time and only requires half a gigawatt to operate. Plus, it's 33 percent cheaper than the one Doc Brown built into the DeLorean. Sounds like a no brainer, until you read a couple online reviews claiming it set their cars on fire. And so you remove it from your shopping cart. This isn't unusual, and according to a new study, it happens far more often than not.
Cone, Inc., a strategy and communications agency located in Boston, Massachusetts, released its 2011 Online Influence Trend Tracker report on Tuesday containing data from an online survey of 1,054 U.S. adults. According to Cone, 89 percent of consumers trust online product and service reviews, and four out of five -- or 80 percent -- of those surveyed said they've changed their mind about a recommended product after reading a negative review. In 2010, that number was 67 percent.
Why the year-over-year increase? Cone attributes the spike in online verification to near-universal access to the Internet and widespread use of smartphones, making online information more accessible to a wider audience than ever before. Careful spending might also be playing a role, Cone says. For pricey items, such as cars (or flux capacitors), Cone says Americans are 25 percent more likely to verify a product recommendation by looking up related online reviews.
"Today’s consumers want reassurance before loosening their purse strings, and personal recommendations alone are just not enough to guarantee a purchase," explained Mike Hollywood, director of New Media, Cone. "The explosion of online word-of-mouth channels and the adoption of online verification have forever changed the marketing landscape. Targeting the right people is a marketer’s first step toward influencing the conversation."
You can view all the hard data here.
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noobstix
August 31, 2011 at 5:48pm
Sometimes previous experience with a certain brand of products can help in a decision. For instance, I figured out the hard way that Best Data's sound cards outlast their video cards (Sound card = ~7 years vs. GPU = Barely over 1 year). But yeah, reviews helped me quite a bit when I was looking for a new video card within a reasonable budget.
QuadraQ
August 31, 2011 at 3:11pm
I must admit that I look pretty closely at the user reviews on NewEgg and Amazon. A lot of negative reviews makes me think twice or even keep searching for something else.
jedisamurai
August 31, 2011 at 1:56pm
Amazon.com proved that reviews mattered a long time ago when they started giving free products to people in exchange for reviews. I'm one of them! I'm an Amazon.com reviewer in around the top 1200 in ranking...and Amazon sends me everything from hair dryers to board games in exchange for my reviews.
Companies give away this free swag...because they know that a few reviews that are even mediocre is better than no reviews for a product....and getting lots of positives is the fastest way to get someone to buy your new product online.
methor44
August 31, 2011 at 1:39pm
I personally will always consult reviews , comments or blogs before I buy anything. I am a big fan of Consumer Reports too. Doing this saves tons of trouble. And yes if I see nothing but bad reviews I will not buy the item. Works the other way too, great reviews leads to a purchase.
onebxr
August 31, 2011 at 12:54pm
I was about to read this but due to the many negative reviews, I will not read this.
bling581
August 31, 2011 at 9:43am
I rarely buy a PC game without reading reviews online because you never know what you're going to get. You may think it's going to be a great game based on screens, videos, or perhaps previous titles in the series. Just look at games like Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2. I personally did not find DA2 as horrible as most people but it did not compare to Origins.
Poorly written reviews don't fly though. If someone gives it a 1 and totally slams the product or game then I just disregard it because they're obviously experiencing rage from wasting their money.
If someone isn't willing to do research before they buy a product then they shouldn't cry about it when it's junk.
Gameaholic1337
August 31, 2011 at 9:35am
I read it on the internet so it must be true! I read it on the internet that companies hire people to give negative reviews of competitor's products and positive reviews of their own products. I read a negative review that started out "I don't usually give reviews but" and the person had reviewed dozens of products all mostly negative. When shopping online I think it's more important to look at the reviews of the return policy rather than the actual reviews.
Zoandar
August 31, 2011 at 8:42am
There are no surprises here. Today's common business model is to shove half-baked, defective products out the door and onto store shelves (be they brick or electronic) as fast and as cheap as possible. Top that off with the simple and inexpensive advertising model of lying through their teeth to the potential customer*. The bottom line is that only those previous customers who have either liked or been burned by the product are the ones worth listening to.
And need I mention the many online scam stores that take your money and never ship the product? For those unaware, the BBB has a nice website for looking up any company by name or URL or phone number. I use it every time I want to order from someone new. It has saved me some grief many times, finding a company who has even padded their customer reviews to look good can actually have an F rating (and it tells why).
* When was the last time you saw a TV ad with no disclaimer in tiny unreadable print flashing across the bottom. The audio track can lie like a rug so long as the tiny print reverses what was said. This is today's marketing. It is no wonder we have to read reviews.
eziegler81
September 01, 2011 at 9:41am
I agree with you Zoandar. Too many companies are selling junk and they know it. So they use deceptive marketing with disclaimers so they can't get sued. In the end the consumer gets screwed and out of their hard earned cash. Companies like this should be able to be sued for theft and false advertisement.
win7fanboi
August 31, 2011 at 10:11am
BBB only filters out the worst of the scum. There are plenty of questionable companies paying BBB to get their sticker. BBB doesn't have any teeth anymore. It is turning into a business itself more and more.
eziegler81
September 01, 2011 at 9:35am
Last I checked, BBB just accepted and filed complaints about companies. You would use the BBB to see what complaints that a company has against them. The BBB won't tell you if a company has great customer service or if they tend to sell crappy products.
A company is suppose to meet whatever standards the BBB sets before they get to use the BBB accreditation logo. I don't know how high of standards they set, but you can verify the accreditation on the BBB site. BBB makes a distinction between a site that is registered with them or not. If a company isn't registered with them, they will take a complaint about a company and publish the complaint for consumers to see. If the company is registered, they usually follow up and submit the complaint to the company. I would be worried about sites that are registered with BBB but doesn't meet the standards.
iheartpcs
August 31, 2011 at 8:08am
I don't buy anything (expensive or important) without first reading many, many reviews.
TerribleToaster
August 31, 2011 at 7:43am
One of the key factors in forming a perfectly competitive market is having everyone know all the information about the product. Looks like we are stepping in the right direction, at least a little bit.
win7fanboi
August 31, 2011 at 7:03am
I believe it... bought some gold from apmex looking at all the good reviews... left them a 4 star review and they didn't post it... I wonder how many real reviews are on that site. Reviews are important but remember unless they are on third party site you may want check and make sure they let you post bad reviews.
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