• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 10, 2015

Online product reviews written by regular people, whether known personally or not, are what's most likely to get women to hit the "buy" button, according to SheSpeaks, and reported by eMarketer. Asked about the most credible source for information about products, US female internet users overwhelmingly said "online product reviews." While 43% preferred reviews by people they followed on social media, or people who were "like" them, a solid 38% trusted any products reviews on shopping sites.

Reviews by experts, by contrast, did not impress. Only 7% trusted online product reviews by journalists or analysts the most. Sources of information other than reviews were even less likely to be rated most trustworthy.

The survey found women were most likely to search for product reviews online if they were shopping for electronics (77%), appliances (72%) or cosmetics (63%)

The study found that good reviews had the potential to get respondents to spend a considerable amount more on their purchases. Though 24% weren't sure, and 10% said they wouldn't spend more due to positive reviews:

• 28% would spend up to 10% more money.
• 20% would being willing to spend 11% to 20% more on a product that had good reviews
• 9% would spend 21% to 30% more

Even though respondents were slightly more likely to trust reviews from people they knew or followed, most female Internet users aren't necessarily looking in locations where they might find those reviews. Nine in 10 sought out information on Amazon, followed by brands' sites (55%) and product review sites (52%).

For additional information from eMarketer may be found here.