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Almost 40% of U.S. Consumers Trust Online Reviews Less Than They Did 5 Years Ago

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Re: Almost 40% of U.S. Consumers Trust Online Reviews Less Than They Did 5 Years Ago

#31

Post by kansface »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #2

So, at what point does this become a problem for Amazon (for example)? They _seem_ to not care.

Does Walmart care about low quality products? Or alternatively, what would an online marketplace that avoids fraud, intentionally low quality reproductions, or just low quality products in general look like?

We'd really like to align the incentives of the reviewers with potential buyers. One way to achieve that would be to pay reviewers as judged by the people who buy the product from the service. There are a few problems here, like there not being much incentive to review low volume products, or manufacturers introducing 10k variations that differ by a single letter in a GUID (monitors/tvs), or a change in the quality of the product itself. These sound tractableish.

Outstanding questions: does the math add up such that the incentive of maintaining a high quality platform is larger than the incentive for manufacturers to defect (signal high quality and cheat). Can we pass on that win to reviewers?

Other thoughts: we can't punish manufacturers for cheating because its too easy for their competitors to abuse.

Re: Almost 40% of U.S. Consumers Trust Online Reviews Less Than They Did 5 Years Ago

#34

Post by FireBeyond »

elliekelly wrote: post #11
duxup wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That and requests to delete my review in exchange for a refund.

Then it's only a matter of time before consumers start gaming the system right back. Write a poor review, await a refund offer, then write the real review.

Well the flip side to this scam too is now I start seeing hints in the reviews.

"Edit: I left this review a month ago, and I have not seen the 'special gift' that the seller promised for my help"

Re: Almost 40% of U.S. Consumers Trust Online Reviews Less Than They Did 5 Years Ago

#35

Post by BitwiseFool »

ssharp wrote: post #21
undefined1 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and Doordash. how is everything >4? are we really to believe that McDonalds has a rating of 4.6 out of 5? it makes the system completely useless.

If you order McDonalds, you probably know what McDonalds should taste like. If it meets 100% of your expectations, why would you rate it lower? Similarly, if I get a meal from Michelin Star rated restaurant and it fails to meet my high expectations, should it get a better rating than McDonald's just because the restaurants meal was still likely much better than McDonald's even if it failed to meet expectations?

In practical terms it dilutes the value of 4 and 5 star reviews for other restaurants. There's some cognitive dissonance involved when McDonald's gets a 4.6/5 and a mom and pop haute-cuisine restaurant gets a 4.6/5 as well. These are two very different dining experiences but they are being judged using the same system and feels inaccurate.

Re: Almost 40% of U.S. Consumers Trust Online Reviews Less Than They Did 5 Years Ago

#37

Post by dawnerd »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #10

I invite people to checkout BestBuy's online shop. Just about every single item has a rating from 4.0 to 4.8 out of 5. I have yet to see a single listing under 4 stars. There are of course, unrated items, but can you honestly believe that virutally every product they carry is nearly perfect? Who actually writes a 5 star review for a no-name brand of tape and cable ties? When everything is perfect, nothing is, and I d…

To answer your question about tape and cable ties, BestBuy will offer rewards points for writing reviews and sometimes offers bonus points for certain products.

Im sure they're also doing some review cleaning like Amazon does where if the review is negative they will moderate it more aggressively. After all, badly rated products hurt the entire storefront so it is in their best interest to keep "bad" products off.

But that said I still will trust BestBuy over Amazon. I know items from BestBuy are not being co-mingled with potential knockoffs and returns are pretty easy for items that are terrible.

Re: Almost 40% of U.S. Consumers Trust Online Reviews Less Than They Did 5 Years Ago

#38

Post by JoshTko »

Just had an Amazon vendor offer me the full value of my purchase (in Amazon gift cards) to change my review from 3 stars to four. On one hand, it's great customer service, but on the other the product is still really a three star product.

Re: Almost 40% of U.S. Consumers Trust Online Reviews Less Than They Did 5 Years Ago

#39

Post by undefined1 »

conception wrote: post #23
undefined1 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and Doordash. how is everything >4? are we really to believe that McDonalds has a rating of 4.6 out of 5? it makes the system completely useless.

This I think stems from a different issue. Doordash has a very easy, one second review they ask from everyone. And I think 99.999% of folks think “oh yeah that was fine, 4 stars” or “it was pretty good, five stars.” Do people get what they expected from that McDonald’s? Was it cheap, fast and nostalgic? 5 stars. The people doing these reviews are not good critics, or critical with any sort of depth. They are the sort…

good points. maybe that makes all the difference between Doordash compared to Google/Yelp, where McDonalds is more along the lines of 1 or 2 out of 5.

it means Doordash ratings are useless for discovery, but if you already know the restaurant, it might have utility in terms of delivery.

Re: Almost 40% of U.S. Consumers Trust Online Reviews Less Than They Did 5 Years Ago

#40

Post by dawnerd »

elliekelly wrote: post #11
duxup wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That and requests to delete my review in exchange for a refund.

Then it's only a matter of time before consumers start gaming the system right back. Write a poor review, await a refund offer, then write the real review.

Then find out Amazon wont accept your real review because it 'doesn't meet their community standards'
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