When faced with a difficult purchase decision, one of the first things I’ll do is look up the product online and read the reviews.
And I genuinely believe the majority of reviews!
In fact, I’m not alone in this. According to the Nielsen 2015 Global Trust in Advertising Report , 66% of us trust consumer opinions posted online. Annnnd, 70% of Millennials trust online consumer reviews.
This totally makes sense to me, especially the Millennials’ statistic. Before we spend our hard-earned cash, (that we earned by dealing with shitty customers, or being paid a lousy $15 an hour waiting on tables…. trust me I did both!) we want to know exactly what we’re getting into.
I will read the good, the bad and the ugly reviews in order to make the all-important decision. And I don’t mean, do I really need these $2 chicken nuggets?
Its a toss up between spending my money, on a lifetime supply of tacos, or the new shiny laptop that I really need for uni.
It’s really important for companies to target that 66% of us, that use reviews as the basis for our purchase decisions. Product reviewing is a tool that companies can utilise to make their product or service stand out in the market.
And, as a business its also important that you read the reviews your customers leave. We don’t review things cos we want to, trust me we have better things to do…. like watch cat videos (for example, say goodbye to the next 4mins of your life). So if someone is leaving a review, its for a damn good reason.
Reviews can also help you better understand your products. You can spend hours designing your product, and even using it, but customers may notice things you never would. That means that when your customers give you great feedback, it can give you ideas for improvements, or even insightful marketing ideas!
So what are the marketing implications?
Businesses, don’t be afraid of any negative review. If every review is positive, people might think the results are not authentic (#fakenews).
Be aware of harsh negative comments. Some people, aren’t as fascinated with cat videos as us, and will spend their day reviewing stuff…..or they’re really pissed off with your product/service. Try to correct the mistake in the product or resolve the situation so that other customers and potential customers get your point of view, when making the purchase decision- Even if its offering them a free gimmick or inviting them back to the store to fix the product.
To those of us that use reviews to make a decision; when you look at the rating, check how many respondents left a review. Sometimes you might see that the rating is 100% , but only one person has put up the review. Obviously not the most reliable rating.
In summary, before you spend your money, check what other people have said about the product/service, most people leave a review for a particular reason, find out what that reason is…they could be saving you a lot of time and money.
I want to hear what you think; have you ever planned to buy something and then read online reviews? Did the reviews make you change your mind, or did it reaffirm your decision?
SpaceBarr 
Wow so interesting! I look at the reviews all the time when I want to buy something online! It’s changed my mind so many times
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Thanks for your comment!
I think reviews are also great because sometimes they emphasise that you’ve made the right decision not to purchase something, or sometimes they even emphasis exactly why you should go and buy that product.
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What a relevant topic! I usually try to read reviews when it comes to online shopping, it definitely makes it more of a valuable experience for me as I am able to see what others have thought about a product!
There have been a few times where I have changed my mind from a review! There have also been times when I have purchased a product without reading the review or when there is no option for a review and then I’ve had to send it back!
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Thanks for the comment!
Definitely know the feeling, where theres no reviews and the product or service absolutely sucks, and then i end up disappointed.
Thats why its so important that marketers are aware of how important the reviews are for a consumer’s decision making. It can totally change the way a consumer perceives the product, and can go as far as making the consumer abandon the product all together.
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Hey Shelly!
Totally agree here. It doesn’t matter whether it’s that 15$ coffee tamper or the $120 shoes I’ve been eyeing off for weeks – i will always read the reviews. The good, the bad, and the ugly. They don’t necessarily change my view on the product itself, but merely change the time I’ll spend on deciding if I need it or not. I recently just bought 2 new t-shirts – both of which I really like. The reviews were all glowing but seemed quite genuine – which led me to purchase them straight away as they were at an incredibly affordable price!
Pat
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Hi Pat,
Thank you for the comment.
I really like how you said that the reviews wont change your perception of the product, but rather how much time youll spend in making a decision.
I think that sometimes it can also be the opposite, like if there were some very mixed reviews, on something that is a high-involvement decision (like buying a laptop), I think i would spend a lot longer trying to make the right decision as to whether i should purchase it.
But if as you said, it was T-shirts and the reviews were all great, then for sure it saves you loads of time! Annnnd you dont really change your opinion of the product.
What do you think?
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Hi Spacebarr! Whenever I consider purchasing a product or service, I always (without fail) search for reviews about the company, or the offering itself.
I also often seek images of a product/service posted by customers (e.g. of a clothing garment or a resort suite), because for myself, that is more authenticating than just a text review.
If a photo is supplied, you get a clearer sense of the retail items quality and fit or a resort room’s likeness to the photographs published on their website.
I definitely agree! I seek reviews more so for high involvement purchases too, because there’s nothing worse than spending a large sum of money on something that makes you experience post-purchase regret.
A thoughtful post. Keep up the great work!
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Hi JMBAT7,
A photo of what you are purchasing always makes the review seem more credible.
Also it allows you to see what you are purchasing from a different angle. For example if youre booking a hotel room, the hotel will have photos of the room published on its website, but these photos will be taken with the best lighting and from an angle that makes the room seem bigger than what it is. So by having someone review it and upload photos, it gives you a much better understanding of what you are purchasing.
Thanks for your comment!
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Reviews work brilliantly for some types of products and services, but not all – I find reviews for products that require some technical knowledge to be able to assess correctly somewhat suspect. What about you? Any industries that are particularly well suited for consumer reviews?
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I agree with you here, when I was looking to get a new phone, i read a lot of online reviews, but didn’t really understand what I was reading. It was kind of pointless that i even read them, at the end of the day i just needed someone to just tell me whether or not it was worth $800 , and if it worked well. I find for these kind of things, word-of-mouth and asking friends is better.
However the food industry, hotels and retail are better suited to online reviews. And this is further demonstrated through apps such as Trip Advisor and Zomato.
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Hi Shelly,
I usually use reviews for anything that exceeds a certain threshold of spending (∼50$). Thereby, I find technology products the ones that benefit the most from reviews. This is due to the fact that these offerings are mostly focussed on a couple of features and or specifications. Products like clothes don’t really benefit from reviews since you have different tastes and body shapes present in this buying situation.
Great post, always good to see ‘King Curtis’!
Paul
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Hi Paul,
Thanks for the comment!
I get what you mean about the technology product reviews being the most beneficial, because of all the specs and features. However if someone (such as myself haha) doesnt understand what all of the jargon means, then it can be a bit overwhelming and unhelpful. But i definitely see the value in what youre saying.
I mainly use reviews for hotels and restaurants, but certainly not for clothes for the exact reasons that you stated!
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