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Friday, August 10, 2007
Why Does a Negative Review Seem More “Honest?”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After receiving several emails regarding my “poor” rating of Geisha House (here’s the review in accessAtlanta) in Atlantic Station, I’m prompted to ask the reading public: Why is it that when I write something scathingly negative it’s perceived as more honest? Many readers — kindly I add — wrote to tell me thanks for such honesty in my writing.
While I appreciate the kind input, I’m befuddled. Often when I give a restaurant a four-star review I get response that clearly perceives the review as puffed up or jaded by me in some way. In other words, negative is perceived as “honest,” while high praise is perceived as trumped up.
Let me state for the record that negative, positive or in between, I am always trying to be as honest as possible in my assessment of a restaurant. So why is negative perceived as “honest?”
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