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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

#61

Post by jedberg »

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…

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.

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

#62

Post by paxys »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #2

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

Amazon realized long ago that selling cheap Chinese-made products (whether real or fake) isn't the future of the company. Something is only a real problem if it affects their first-party products and services ecosystem (Echo, Alexa, Fire, Kindle, Audible, Ring, Prime, Video, Whole Foods, Fresh).

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

#65

Post by mumblemumble »

kull wrote: post #28

Reviews and rankings are broken across the industries. For products I usually start my journey at NYT Wirecutter https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/ . I was also recently looking for a place at Apartments.com, as I learned all places get 5 star ranking to start, and it’s of course not clear at all in the UX. I think at the moment google maps does pretty good job with rankings.

I'm finding Wirecutter to be less-than-useful, though. There's the question marks around their funding model, but the deeper problem is their "the best X" format. It requires setting up a very specific rubric that tends to favor Cadillac models, and leaves you with very little information to go on if you don't have Cadillac needs.

Concrete example: I recently bought a new office chair. My shopping process involved a lot of reading reviews and a lot of sitting in actual chairs. The chair I ended up with, an Ikea Långfjäll, wasn't even considered by Wirecutter because it lacks a lot of adjustability features. But there are a lot of truly independent reviews (by which I mean, people talking on Web forums or mentioning the chair they use on their personal blogs) with the general consensus being, "This chair is fantastic if it fits your body and you don't need/want all the bells and whistles." A couple people even said they happily switched to it from an Aeron chair or similar. Which describes me well enough, insofar as my office was supplying me with Herman Miller love up until the pandemic hit.

So, all in all, I'm loving this chair. But, if I were constrained to the Wirecutter "The best X" format, I wouldn't include it, either, because its lack of adjustability means it just won't be suitable for lots and lots and lots of people.

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

#66

Post by jjoonathan »

dawnerd wrote: post #40
elliekelly wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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'

Yep, can't let the word spread that someone peed in the co-mingling pool. That might cause a panic!

Also: can't let the word spread that "prime" shipments get silently substituted for 30-day slow-steamed-in-a-containers-and-then-USPS shipments. That wouldn't reflect fairly on the product!

Ugh.

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

#67

Post by neartheplain »

jedberg wrote: post #61
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…

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.

Unfortunately, even this approach isn’t foolproof. Fake brand-name products make it into supply chains all the time, especially on sites like Amazon via third-party sellers. In China for example, “fake alcohol” (where brand-name bottles are refilled with cheaper, sometimes dangerous off-brand liquors) has been a big problem:

https://www.mersolluo.com/china-cracking-down-on-counterfeit...

I can’t imagine that the rubbing alcohol wipe industry is that much more resistant to counterfeiting.

(Edit: It’s not- https://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/scammers-promise-cl...)

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

#68

Post by geocrasher »

I don't understand the need to mistrust online reviews. They are all 100% accurate and only published by people who are completely authoritative in their segment. I find online reviews to be objective and informed, while providing deep insight into the inner workings of that which is being reviewed. They always express an unbiased approach, and in my expert opinion, everyone should trust online reviews. A++++++ would do business again. You can trust me on this!

Yours Truly,

Prince Alyusi Islassis

Nigerian National Petroleum Company

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

#69

Post by mistyvales »

I stopped caring about user "reviews" years ago. A good chunk of them are paid and another good chunk are absurdly emotional/hyperbolic, most of which the buyers don't even know what the use case of a product is. Most people, especially on Amazon, buy a product without even looking at every detail about it.

I partially blame Amazon's product UI which is generally terrible, but also people that don't do any research on a product they buy.

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

#70

Post by spaetzleesser »

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…

I guess a useful metric would be if they posted return rates, warranty cases and so on.
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