Online Ratings:How

Reliable
Presentation By-Abhijeet Bhattacharya
UID-20MBA1423
Section-D
Contents
Why do Online Reviews matter?
Who writes Online Reviews and Why?
Are online reviews reliable?
Knowing the difference: What’s real or what’s not
Why do online reviews matter?
Online customer reviews are widely used by consumers to make purchasing
decisions. Stats below, pulled from an info graphic by Business 2 Community,
indicate just how much reviews matter to consumers.
 90% of consumers read online reviews (with 89% reading more than 2 reviews,
and 15% reading 11 reviews)
 88% trust online reviews when considering a business
 72% say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more
 Customers are likely to spend 31% more on a business with excellent reviews
 86% of consumers will decide against buying from you if they read negative
reviews about you online.
Online reviews matter because they get more people to see your business. More
importantly, they get more of the right people to see your business (those
searching for information on it or for your products and service), and they
present your business in a positive and trustworthy light. (Even a negative
review, when responded to appropriately, can help to show transparency for
your business). Yet the benefits of online reviews do not stop there
 Set Yourself Apart: Customers are more likely to write a review on our business if it
stood out to them in some way, often mentioning things you may not have noticed
yourself or thought to highlight to potential customers. Harness these small
observations to set yourself apart from competitors.
 Strengthen Your Brand Identity: How you respond to a review has just as much of an
impact as the review itself, whether that review is positive or negative. Online reviews
are opportunities to show your brand personality and integrity to the public.
 Build Trust: No business is perfect and consumers value transparency, so a healthy mix
of positive and negative reviews, accompanied by the proper responses on your end will
earn you the trust of your audience
 Improve Rankings: We already mentioned this, but it’s worth mentioning again.
Having positive online reviews can boost your rank and visibility on highly trafficked
platforms such as Google and Yelp
 Social Proof: You can write top-notch content about how great your business is, but
nothing is more credible than the approval of an actual customer.
 Marketing Content: Reviews make for easy and effective content to share on your
website or across social channels.
 Holistic Viewpoint: Customer reviews offer insight not just into your specific product
or services, but also into what the overall experience of engaging with your business is
like.
Who writes Online Reviews and Why?
Online customer reviews and testimonials have tremendous influence over the
purchasing decisions of other consumers. According to Pew Research
Center, 82% of American adults say they at least sometimes read online
customer ratings or reviews before first time purchases, including 40% who say
they always or almost always do so.
The most common reason people cited for writing reviews is because
consumers want to help other people.

The benefits of online customer reviews are a form of social proof in

marketing that make your product stand apart from the rest.

If a consumer has a positive experience with a product, they will want to let
others know about it in order to help them have the same enjoyable experience,
as well. They may also feel that the company should be rewarded with a
positive review for the excellent service they provided.
 For example, parents who have sent their kids to Williamsburg Academy, rave about the
program in the testimonials page here:

Sharing their experience, they can help other parents with their decision about which school to
send their children to.
Are online reviews reliable?
In April of 2017, London based writer Oobah Butler made headlines the
world over for - well, for lack of a better phrase - totally punking the
top most travel review site, when he made “A Shed in Dulwich” (an
actual shed in Dulwich) the top rated restaurant in London.
There is a product related to Antim Kriya called “Sarvpooja - Final rites
Kit” which read like below:
Review 1 - “Wow amazing product ....just used for my friend
(shubham) ....he burned very well ..no chances of coming back .. …”
Review 2 - “What a product. My friend loved it. His uncle burned very
well. He is planning to buy another one for his aunty.”
A recent survey also showed that one of the world’s largest online
shopping sites has 60per cent or more fake reviews in product
categories like Electronics, Beauty and Supplements.
So Can Online Reviews Really be Considered Reliable?
There’s absolutely no denying the power of the online reviews. In fact, 57per cent
of people surveyed they wouldn’t choose a business that had under a 4-star
rating.
With 9 out of 10 consumers saying that these little snippets of information from
past buyers impact their decision to either buy or not buy, it’s safe to say that
buyer behaviour changes with the presence, or lack there off, of reviews on a
product.
Of course, with the inclusion of public opinion brings its own share of
unpredictability. Is the review true to a user’s experience? Is it subjective? Is it
paid for?
For brands, it all comes down to perception. You can embrace the challenges and
the benefits that come with reviews, or choose to cower. I’d advocate for the
former.
 The Extent and Impact of Reviews
Consumers tend to believe a customer review 12 times more than what
the brand has to say about the product. But this is quickly being
extended to experiences, services, people, and jobs too.
From the “Superhost” filter on Airbnb to restaurant reviews on
TripAdvisor and workplace reviews on Glassdoor, everyone is looking
for that “5-star” experience. Transport giants Uber and Ola even let you
rate people!
With reviews being used on search engines too, more and more brands
are starting to interweave a marketing strategy that’ll get the most out
of a review.
Knowing the difference: What’s real or
what’s not
Today there are a few apps available in the app store which can help you weed
out fake reviews on popular sites. But they do not cover all sites so here are a
few telltale signs that you should keep an eye out for:
1. Check the Feedback and not Just the Star Rating
While the star ratings don’t really give you much to go on, the feedback or
comments tell you exactly what the reviewer liked/didn’t like about the item
in question. Sometimes, the reason behind the review may not even add
value to your decision.
E.g.- a 1-star rating complaining about the length of a pair of trousers, posted
by someone who’s 6’4’’ while you happen to be 5’10’’.
2. Check if the User is a Verified/Validated Buyer
One of the easiest ways to check if the review is real or fake is to look for a
“Verified Buyer” tag. While this is specific to Amazon, other e-commerce
giants have similar functions in place to help their customers choose better.
 3. Consider the Quality of the Review
Reviews in the range of one to five words long should hold very little if not no
merit at all. If someone takes the time to spell out exactly why they either love
or hate the product, then you have a higher chance of them being honest, than
someone who said a pair of jeans was “Terrible” with no mention of whether it
was the colour, wash, or fit that was “Terrible”.
4. Check the Reviewer’s Profile
Most sites give you access to view the profile of the person leaving the review. Not
to sound too much like a detective, but running a small background check to
survey the products the person has previously reviewed should give you a fair
idea of whether or not the review is legit.
5. Keep an Eye Out for Extremist Behavior
If the reviewer has a tendency of rating only in either one or five stars, you might
not get a clear representation of the product even if the reviewer is genuine. In
this case, it would be best to remove the review from the consideration process
altogether and base your decision on other reviews and your own judgment.
References
 https://thrivehive.com/do-online-reviews-matter/#:~:text=online%20r
eviews%20matter%20because%20they,a%20positive%20and%20trustw
orthy%20light
.
 https://www.spectoos.com/5-real-motivations-behind-people-write-cu
stomer-reviews/#:~:text=sharing%20is%20caring&text=in%20fact%2c
%20this%20is%20the,same%20enjoyable%20experience%2c%20as%20
well
.
 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/335518
THANK YOU