Most of the stuff you read about negative reviews tends to be advice from marketing agencies on how to listen, react and turn dissenters into ‘brand advocates’ blah blah.
But, social commerce specialist Reevoo recently looked at the real impact of negative reviews on business with the results presented via a white paper (available for download here).
Findings include:
- Consumers spend four times as long on a site when they interact with bad reviews, trust what they are reading more and are more likely to convert
- 68% say they trust good reviews more when they see a mixed bag of opinions and scores
- 95% suspect fake reviews or censorship when they don’t see anything negative
The research also shows negative reviews are driving up engagement and have become one of the most popular features of websites with double the amount of people actively seeking them out as those looking for positive comments.
Those looking for negative reviews spend more than 17 minutes on a site compared with normal consumers, who spend just over three minutes, and they view almost four times as many pages.
And, the good news, when they do come across a product or service with a bad review, they tend to move on to the next one with less than 1% leaving the website.
The company says consumers are using bad reviews to get a full and balanced picture, see where others differ to them (single traveller hates noisy hotel versus family wanting lively property) and feel they can trust the product or service.
Reevoo concludes bad reviews are one of the most effective conversion tools with a 67% increase in conversion rates from those who have sought out negative feedback.
But, one final word on responding to unhappy customers, reports mentioned within the white paper demonstrate how they can become loyal customers if they get a response from the brand.
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About Linda Fox
Totally matches my personal usage of reviews. I might have said this before, I sometimes find negative reviews useful, especially a negative review from an idiot.
I once saw a review which marked down an outdoor attraction in Ireland because it was raining! They weren’t even making the point that the attraction managers could have done things differently while it was raining, no, they marked it down because of the weather.
Spurious objections in negative reviewers actually make me favor a product. They didn’t like it but that is the worst they can say?
Also, I have several friends whose taste in cinema is so awful, I always do the opposite of what the recommend.
Sometimes they can be useful and sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it. BUT–just because there will be people you are unable to convert to “brand advocates” doesn’t mean it isn’t worth your effort. Even the best customer service will make mistakes. Nice point about film Mark–I think we share the same friends.
I completely agree with Mark – as many online reviews don’t focus on variables the business can control. However, more to the point, businesses would find more value in being able to respond to customers’ complaints and/or feedback if done so in real time. This is something my firm focuses on in restaurants and hospitality – we are interested in anyone providing feedback or their own point of view!
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But they have to moderate. Trolls do not bring money.
Negative reviews with insights into issues are incredibly helpful for a product manager. If they are addressed in a release or through customer service, they can be used to build brand supporters. Give me a constructively vocal unhappy customer any day over one who just switches to a competitor.