According to a new study by YouGov, consumers don’t write online reviews to release anger. Instead, among US internet users who posted online customer reviews, the top reason for doing so was
to help others make better purchasing decisions, cited by 62% of respondents. 35% shared because they thought it was polite to provide feedback, and around one-quarter wanted to let others know about
their own good experience or make sure that good vendors got good business.
Reasons For
Posting Online Consumer Reviews (US Internet Users; % Respondents In Each Group) |
| Age Group |
Reason For Post | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Total |
Help others make better purchase decisions | 56% | 62% | 67% | 62% |
Polite to leave feedback | 36 | 38 | 33 | 35 |
Share positive good experience | 19 | 27 | 34 | 27 |
Make sure good vendors get business | 18 | 25 | 30 | 25 |
Warn about bad experience | 10 | 11 | 17 | 13 |
Expose bad vendors | 8 | 10 | 16 | 12 |
Improve
ranking as customer | 6 | 10 | 3 | 7 |
Become well known reviewer | 7 | 6 | 3 | 5 |
Source: YouGov,
November 2014 |
13% wanted to warn readers about a bad experience, and only 12% posted reviews to “expose” bad vendors. While this is good news
for businesses that don’t provide the best customer service, it also means that those who do want good reviews need to work extra hard to please customersm not just do what they need to do to
get by during the purchase process, says the report.
YouGov respondents claimed to view online reviews positively, with 86% saying they were trustworthy, but further questioning suggested they
did indeed have negative feelings about online review practices today.
64% of internet users said they thought individuals wrote online reviews without actually having purchased a product or
service, and 68% believed businesses posted negative feedback about competitors’ products and services. Even more, 80% thought businesses wrote positive online reviews about themselves.
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