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September 19 2008
Three strikes and you're out: Research shows how buyers use customer reviews
Seventy percent of consumers read a product or service review on the internet last month and 75% say they wouldn't buy a product after reading three negative reviews. Three? One would be quite enough to dissuade me. It seems that consumers may be less swayed by negative reviews than observers have previously thought
Only one third of consumers in a new survey by Lightspeed Research said they would be dissuaded from buying a product after reading only two negative reviews. 75%, though, are finally dissuaded after reading three bad reviews.
Who writes the review does make a major difference. Professional reviewers employed by publications and websites were at the bottom of the list (Phew! No need to worry about putting that new site review series I've been considering into action, then). Which? came top with 75% saying it is their most trusted source whilst 58% said other consumers were either 'very trusted' or 'trusted' sources of information.
70% of British consumers are now reading an online review every month and a surprising 32% say they've now posted a review online. 82% of them were positive, with women tending to write more favourable reviews than men.
Reviews are most sought after by personal technology buyers, especially for cameras, MP3 players and mobile phones, followed by white goods, then computer hardware and software. For services, consumers sought out reviews on utility providers, ISPs, banks and financial services.
"It is clear from this research that many consumers rely on reviews and make decisions to buy or not to buy based on them," says David Day, Lightspeed Research's European chief executive. "Interestingly, the fears voiced by many people about reviews being predominantly negative have not been borne out, with the vast majority of consumers writing positive reviews — suggesting that companies need to encourage customers to share information and experiences of their products and services if they want to gain and retain consumers' trust."
So why are consumers saying it would take three negative reviews to dissuade them from buying a product? Do any readers have any additional insight they could add into the mix?
by Sarah Clark (Web Editor)
Negative reviews are often positive
1) The reviewer is not relevant to me. If I'm an expert photographer, I don't really care that a beginner found the camera difficult to operate. It's the complexity that attracts me since I want the additional features.
2) The review highlights a negative attribute that is irrelevant to me. If a person negatively reviews a phone's camera functionality but I never intend to take pictures, that review would not dissuade me.
3) The negatives don't outweigh the positives. As you note and as Bazaarvoice has discovered across 200+ clients, 80+% of reviews are positive. If there are 15 positive reviews and 2 negative reviews, most likely it's a good product.
There are other reasons but the short answer is retailers should embrace reviews, both positive and negative. It's that transparency and authenticity which drives greater trust and loyalty. Negative product reviews only enhance the retailer's reputation.
Further thoughts on Customer Reviews
Our research suggests that you can be pretty confident of the reliability of aggregated customer opinion once around 15 reviews have been collected. Where fewer reviews are available, the “average approval rating” may not always be a representative view of that product.
The construction of the review questionnaire is also important; we collect a lot of rich detail so that customers can scan the reviews as well as the scores, which allows other shoppers to see if the things that the reviewer liked / disliked really matter to them. This granularity can often be more useful and influential than the pure score a reviewer gives to a product.
The other important thing not touched on so far is the authenticity of the reviews. Impartial online reviews, written by people who have definitely bought the product, are far more likely to influence the decision making process than other types of review. Certainly I would listen to 3 reviewers’ negative comments if I know they all own the product; I’d be less influenced if their authenticity wasn’t guaranteed.
Negative reviews
Also a series of negative reviews can help you to identify products or services that are not very good or need resolving. Review services gives you an additionla channel for feedback from customers without which you might not hear their concerns.
Demonstarting that you can react to customer feedback provides a powerul message that you are able to engage with your customers and take their views seriously, again buiding up trust.