The importance of product reviews

While programming my Spring Break trip to California, I realized how important the reviews are today. In my experience they were very influential if not determinant of my choices of hotels and car rental companies.

As we all know, the Internet has become a key information source for researching products. According to Nielsen Online when making purchase decisions, North American Internet users trust recommendations from people they know and opinions posted by unknown consumers online more than advertisements on television, on the radio, in magazines and newspapers, or in other traditional media.

People read reviews because they try to get the most out of what they pay for and they want to know all the “secrets” about the product before they make a purchase. If the product page by itself does not make customers want to make a purchase, they will certainly look for more information before they go ahead and make the final decision.

Customers are looking for an honest opinion from someone they trust because money is tighter than it has ever been for many people and consequently, they want to make an informed decision. Reading reviews online can help strengthening a customer’s trust and belief on the product or brand.

So, it’s definitely very important for companies to pay attention to that and not to be afraid of the negative reviews. In fact, the majority word of mouth is positive. As said by BazzaarVoice, across all of Bazaarvoice US clients, 80% of product ratings are 4 or 5 stars out of 5. And across all of Bazaarvoice UK clients, 88% of product ratings are 4 or 5 stars out of 5.

While it is truth that people reading good reviews tend to sway towards the product because of the established trust other people have on that particular product or service, customers are also looking for negative reviews.

Negative and sincere reviews establish credibility. Customers know that if there aren't dissenting opinions about a product, then the opinions aren't real. If all they see are five-star reviews, they're reading testimonials, not authentic, credible customer reviews to help make a purchase decision.

As I said, reading customers’ reviews made a huge difference on the purchase decisions for my trip to California and it helped me to be more confident about my choices. So, as a customer and as a marketer I truly believe that reviews can help retailers to improve conversion rates, drive sales and increase customer satisfaction, since customer will know what to expect of the product or service they are about to purchase.