The Effects of Consumer Reviews Driving

Purchasing Decisions By: Casey Kuktelionis

Consumer Review Influence

70% of people trust online customer reviews.

82% of customers think consumer reviews are valuable or very valuable.

Consumer reviews crush editorial reviews by a 3-1 margin.

Effects on Buying Behavior

Harvard Business study found that a one star increase on yelp rating meant a 5-9% increase in restaurant revenue.

Consumer Trust & Fake Reviews

Shoppers trust reviews on Amazon (84%) and Best Buy (75%) more than consumer reports (72%).

80% of consumers say they have been concerned about a review’s authenticity.

The NY Times has reported vendors buy 5 star reviews.

Fake Reviews Cont.

Tips to discover fake reviews:

Too many 5 stars

Too expressive

Marketing hype

No reviewer history

Too much, too soon

• Approximately one-third of online consumer reviews are written by marketers or retailers, not real consumers. • Consumers will read on average 11 reviews [to weed out fakes] before making a purchase decision.

Good Customer Service Leads to Good Reviews

Nearly one third of consumers have complained about poor service using social networking sites or third party review sites.

Shoppers say 31% of a product’s reviews must be negative for them to doubt the product’s quality.

The Bottom Line

So what does this mean for PR practitioners?

•Treat customer reviews as other social networking opportunities. • A bad review has the potential to go viral over night, tarnishing your brand. • It is estimated that businesses spent $1.6 billion managing their online reputations in 2011. • Learn how to respond to negative reviews. • We are responsible for protecting our consumers and the brand from fake reviews. • Identify reviews with the potential to have the most impact, and use them to the organizations advantage.

Components of a Good Review

What I Recommend…

Organizations implement monitoring technology and software.

PR, advertising, and marketing personnel incorporate consumer reviews into their strategic plans.

All organizations support attempts to combat fake reviews of their products.

Organizations make customer service a focus to improve reviews.