Online reviews are great when you are shopping or looking to book a hotel in a place you are visiting for the first time, but how do you know if the advice is legit?
Truth is, you don’t know, but studies show we tend to believe what we read in reviews – both positive and negative. And those who may have an ax to grind against a company live in that trust, hoping to dissuade you from choosing that hotel or product.
A recent study showed that nearly 72 percent of consumers said they believe positive product reviews and have made purchases based on that advice. Likewise, 80 percent have decided not to make purchases or book hotel rooms based on negative reviews.
So, how do you know what's a true complaint (or compliment), and what's a business to do about fake reviews?
If you are Amazon.com, you root out the thousand or so people posting false reviews and you sue them for damaging your company.
Just who writes fake reviews? According to research from MIT Sloan School of Management professor Duncan Simester, people who write fake negative reviews are "basically browsing around the website, seeing stuff they don't like, and responding to it." Simester said in an interview that those who post fake negative reviews – really only about 1 in 1,000 -- are looking for online social status, or they feel they have been wronged by a company and are hoping to damage it financially.
What’s a consumer to do? If you are looking to buy a product or book a room, flight, or car, you can still look at reviews for some guidance, but also look for clues that the reviewer may not be on the level. Here are a few:
1. Disregard the extremes - If a review contains technical details that most of us are completely clueless of – instead of the general workings of, say, a toaster ("It heats bread") -- then the review could be suspect.
2. The language – Let's face it, we don't always talk good. Nor, do we always write good. It's a bit sad to say it, but if the review is lacking misspelled words or errors in grammar, then that could be a clue, too. (No offense, honest reviewers)
3. Descriptions – If you are complaining about a hotel room you've never visited then your review is likely full of vague generalities instead of specifics on the place. According to a Cornell University study, fake reviewers will talk more about the reason for the fake trip they took ("Our ENTIRE family was here in Honolulu to enjoy a winter break…"), rather than the specifics of their accommodations, meals, surf lessons, et al.
4. Flowery prose – Fake reviewers can be a highfalutin bunch, meaning they don't often write as you would expect someone to speak. If the review sounds like it was written by a Yale English major, take it with a grain of salt. That's not to say that Yale English majors don't write perfectly legit reviews, it's just not what you usually see in online reviews. Again, no offense.
5. It pays to investigate -- Amazon will cross-reference reviews with their costumer database to see if the people posting reviews actually shop with them. They are called "verified purchasers." A review from a verified purchaser should hold more weight. Open Table provides a similar service for meals, but it requires a person to make a purchase before allowing a review.
You can do your own version of this by checking out the profile of a reviewer to see how many reviews they post. If the person’s reviews are similar (negative or positive), or if they are all about products from the same company, you may want to think twice about that reviewers advice.
Sources: Forbes; MIT Sloan School of Management; Inverse; Cornell University
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