It used to be that you’d need to refer to professionals and experts for reviews on products and services. Now, anyone and their dog can write an online review and it is considered highly by users. Online reviews have been around for a long time, of course, with the likes of Yelp and Tripadvisor long being popular places for people to type up extensive reviews on their experiences, but should these write-ups hold so much weight?
Perhaps not, but that doesn’t matter so much in the modern space. A review score compiled by thousands of people on the internet generally is seen as having as much influence as 50 or 60 reviews from experts and critics. That’s not to say that people can’t be independent experts and offer valuable insights in their reviews, as Cooper Mitchell does for his gym equipment reviews, but review democratization has certainly changed the game.
It’s interesting to see how the open-access world of online reviews now matters to businesses across all industries, from the major players in entertainment to everyday eCommerce and B2B firms. Here, we’re going to explore how reviews still have a huge impact across the board and why businesses need to both embrace and be weary of them.
Reviewing in entertainment
paper to check out the reviews from professional critics for the latest blockbuster or even a play that had just started at a major venue. Productions would anchor their success on these early reviews. There are some places where the expert reviews still hold a lot of weight. Predominantly, this is in online casino reviews.
There are many platforms for these, but the leading ones are owned and operated by industry experts. Given the breadth of the experience these days, the top reviewers have to delve into elements like new games, available freebies, branding, what can be played, the best games, trustworthiness, licensing, and more. It’s extensive because it needs to be, and to be that extensive, they need seasoned experts.
This used to be the case in more mainstream entertainment like TV and film, but that’s faded under the weight of review aggregators and public review scores on host platforms. Usually, you’d say that the critic scores should matter the most, but given that user reviews were removed by Amazon when they started to criticize the quality of The Rings of Power, as one example, it’s clear that these scores matter a lot as well. Following antics like The Guardian giving that show a poor review “now that the first season is finally over” after hailing it in the face of bad user reviews, it makes sense that users would trust their fellow users over critics more now.
User review scores holding even more weight in eCommerce and B2B
You can look at any collection of stats attained from research into online reviews, and you’ll always find that the vast majority of people not only use them to make purchasing decisions, but also trust them. Online reviews are said to power some 20 percent of sales, over 90 percent of B2B buyers are more likely to go ahead with a purchase if there’s a positive review online, 91 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds trust personal recommendations and online reviews the same amount, and 78 percent are more intent on reading reviews the more expensive the product is.
The big problem is that people will post negative reviews. In fact, people are more likely to post a negative review than a positive review because negative emotions are a more powerful driver, and online reviews offer a path for recourse. Inc.com has said that it takes 40 positive reviews to counter one negative review. Luckily, when the business replies to reviews, some 89 percent of customers read it, and that can help undo the damage.
It’s important not to ignore reviews as so many people rely on them, regardless of the expertise behind them. A business needs to roll with them, adapt to feedback, and continue to respond in a professional way that allows voices to be heard and a better perception of the business to be seen.