There is no denying the authority that ratings and customer reviews hold for both online retailers and listings for local SMB’s. We tend to rely on the opinions of others from product and service reviews and ratings to help us make a purchasing decision. New research findings suggest reviews influence what we buy but not in the way you’d think. These findings, published in Psychological Science from the Association for Psychological Science, show that online consumers tend to favor products with a higher number of reviews, vs. comparable products with higher star ratings and more positive reviews.
Following the Crowd
Social proof, almost solely based on the number of reviews that a service or product has, is a subconscious shortcut for our online buying decisions. While it makes more sense to view the more meaningful star ratings to determine the value of a product, social psychology has proven that we take cues from other online consumers based on sheer mass, i.e. the number people providing feedback with little notice to what that feedback may be saying. This revelation has very direct implications for online retailers and their customers, so the question here may be, how can we show review results to favor quality over quantity?
The Take-Away? Numbers Matter
In light of this revelation, whether it will be a continuing trend or not, the online success of your products and services is directly linked to the number of reviews with a smaller portion of relevance for star-ratings and genuine positive reviews and compliments from past customers. Until retailers like Amazon and Google SERP’s rethink how reviews and ratings are presented in search results, business owners should continue to encourage high ratings and positive reviews in an effort to steer consumers toward services and products they will be happy with. The influence reviews possess in the online and local consumer’s purchasing decisions will always remain a valuable portion of your businesses’ overall success and bottom line.
Generating Ongoing Positive Reviews to Remain Relevant
To remain competitive, both SMB’s and online retailers should implement a proactive reputation strategy to continually generate ongoing positive reviews and encourage high star ratings. YouReview offers an easy to use, comprehensive dashboard to build and maintain your online reputation with our easy, fully-automated review gathering and publishing process. Features include:
- Unlimited Review Source Tracking
- Review Invitations for Text (SMS), Email & Print
- Customized Landing Page for Customer Feedback
- Auto-Publishing to Your Website
- Auto-Sharing to Your Social Media Accounts
- Daily Monitoring for Reviews
- New Review Notification
- Review Response Workflow Tool
- Import Customer Lists
- On-Location Kiosk Mode
- Custom Reporting
- Click Here to Learn More
With a consensus of 67% of online consumers are more likely to purchase from a business with a positive online reputation, what are you waiting for? Contact us to schedule a demo of our YouReview reputation management dashboard to show you how we can help you ask for valuable customer ratings and reviews.
Chevelle Garnett
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