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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

#141

Post by Shivetya »

everdrive wrote: post #7

As well they should. This is a game of cat and mouse. Consumers were ahead for a little while, but companies have really gotten a grasp on the internet, and they're winning the information war. It's no mistake that I've come to rely on brand name again. It's the best heuristic available to me. When all this first started (mid-2000s) I was actively avoiding basing ANY decision on brand name. For a brief window, I had…

Oh my, I am at the point I only read the 1 star reviews and maybe 2 star reviews. Worse dealing with Amazon is a royal pain when the company fulfilling the order ships the wrong item.

Brand names are a fine method to follow but not when sellers ship the wrong model/version/etc.

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

#142

Post by spoonjim »

esturk wrote: post #133
spoonjim wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are going to Reddit then they are going to Reddit.

If they're going to Reddit, they'll have to put in a lot more effort than just using bots to post fake reviews. For some subreddits like r/BuyItForLife, it's not about the number of upvotes. Some people just gravitates toward old fashion goods.

Yes but one Reddit comment has a lot more weight right now because of the ease of astroturfing, so it doesn’t need to be a Bot. Someone posts a Swiss Army knife and someone else might say, “I love my Swiss Army Knife that my grandfather left me. Oddly enough my aunt thought it was lost and bought me a knockoff from Amazon and it actually works better than my grandfather’s knife.”

Then someone replies saying “what was the brand?”

Then the person replies with a picture of the knife with the lettering in tatters saying “QUINIPO” or one of those Chinese brand names.

Boom

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

#143

Post by dragontamer »

bombcar wrote: post #136
dragontamer wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> nobody is buying bad reviews https://usasocialmediaservices.com/services/buy-negative-fac... Going price of negative reviews (that lean positive to sell the product) is $10 for 5 reviews. A mix of good, medium, and bad reviews "naturally" sells a product. You can literally buy astroturfing for your products these days on the cheap.

Ah snap they’re on to me. :(

There's also "rival company" reviews. I've heard from some business friends in the Hotel business that rival Hotels are probably leaving bad reviews on Yelp. And there's pretty much nothing you can do about it.

You look at a review, you back-check the date and try to line it up with customer records. You look for complaints, you ask staff if they remember the customer. Etc. etc. Ultimately, its a phantom, clearly a made-up review designed to hurt your company for some reason.

That's more of a thing on Yelp where if you bad-mouth a neighbor with a fake-review, your own business across the street benefits. Less of a thing on Amazon (where a fake negative review won't necessarily lead to customers buying your thing).

----------

Back 20 or 30 years ago, a fake negative review on a newspaper or an advertisement would lead to suing the perpetrator for slander or libel. Today, there's no recourse at all. And more-and-more people are learning about the marvels of the modern internet age where you can pretty much slander your opponents and benefit from customers as a result.

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

#144

Post by vel0city »

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…

Lots of products have I also agree its hard to trust online reviews, but we don't need to throw out falsehoods about how every product is 4+ stars.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ge-7-8-cu-ft-10-cycle-electric-...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/whirlpool-7-4-cu-ft-36-cycle-el...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/combo/washer-dryer-bundles/d40c...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hisense-32-class-h55-series-led...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/furrion-49-class-led-outdoor-fu...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/jam-been-there-wireless-on-ear-...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tcl-mtro-series-mtro200btbl-wir...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sennheiser-ie-80-s-bt-wireless-...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/supersonic-7-tablet-8gb-black/6...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/azpen-10-touch-screen-tablet-an...

To be honest though, if you were a retailer trying to push the idea that almost any product you sell if cool tech, wouldn't you probably remove most SKUs that are genuinely 2-star products?

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

#145

Post by throwawayboise »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #95
jedberg wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true in the real world again (still?) too. We're currently stocking up on disinfecting wipes to donate to the school when they open next month. We've been told that the teachers only want brand name Clorox wipes, because they don't trust any other brand to actually disinfect safely.

Surely buying a brand name disinfectant by the gallon and paper towels and a spray bottle are orders of magnitude cheaper. And probably orders of magnitude better for the environment?

Not to mention it isn't really necessary. It's pretty clear now that surface contact is not a major vector for COVID transmission.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-si...

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

#146

Post by vel0city »

akramer wrote: post #53
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…

I spend entirely too much money at Best Buy, and I’ve only written 5 star reviews for products I like. The bad products get immediately returned for a full refund - one of the advantages of buying from a big brick and mortar store. I never think about products I returned, I would prefer not to unless I’m given some incentive to write a bad review. Now, if I were stuck with the item, I’d probably trash it online in th…

Same kind of experience here. On top of that, I'm usually a pretty picky purchaser who does a decent bit of market research ahead of time. So I'm probably more likely to only buy that good electronic item from a shop like Best Buy that I've got a high likelihood of giving a 4-5 star review.

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

#147

Post by boatsie »

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…

Almost all online stores seem to be like this. Why would Dell or Lenovo show you products that had anything less than 3.5 stars? There’s a huge conflict of interest in showing reviews of their own products. BestBuy has to sell the inventory they carry, so sure, they will tell you everything is 4-5 stars. Amazon is actually slightly better because they profit no matter which headphones you buy, but then it’s the sellers that are gaming the system. In theory it should be easier to detect.

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

#148

Post by MereInterest »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #108
everdrive wrote: post #7

As well they should. This is a game of cat and mouse. Consumers were ahead for a little while, but companies have really gotten a grasp on the internet, and they're winning the information war. It's no mistake that I've come to rely on brand name again. It's the best heuristic available to me. When all this first started (mid-2000s) I was actively avoiding basing ANY decision on brand name. For a brief window, I had…

> It's no mistake that I've come to rely on brand name again. I've been saying for awhile, this could be the salvation for brick-and-mortar stores. As long as Amazon continues to play fast and loose with counterfeits, the one thing that will get me to drive down to the store and buy something in-person is the store's guarantee that the product came from the vendor whose name is on the box, and that I can return it if…

That and in-person testing of equipment. When (pre-pandemic) I was buying a new set of headphones, I was able to go through different options, test out how they feel, and whether there are any significant sound quality issues. I prefer over-the-ear headphones, but have bigger ears, so it is hard to tell whether a set will be comfortable without trying them on first. To do the same with an online store would require ordering a dozen headsets, then navigating the return policies for all but one of them.

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

#150

Post by boatsie »

The internet is making everything winner take all. Off the first page of Google? You don’t exist. Not on first page of Amazon for “Bluetooth headphones”? You don’t exist. That’s why companies will pay so much to game whatever system gets them to the top rank, which is only further reinforced when people buy/click that top product/result. This is a hard problem to solve but I think there needs to be a way of segmenting the results you see, perhaps more highly weighting the opinions of others similar (in preferences) to you.
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