Think of the last time you purchased something on an e-commerce platform. You probably took some time to go through numerous customer reviews on the product and vendor. That’s usually the process for most consumers.
However, this isn’t limited to online businesses because a potential customer often judges a brand by their online reviews before visiting their physical location. So, customer reviews play a crucial role in shaping a consumer’s journey and influencing their purchase decisions.
Consumer reviews impact your brand’s reputation and trust
The statistics below show that the majority of consumers will not patronise a business or brand with poor reviews or a bad online reputation as most customers make their purchase decisions based on reviews.
Moreover, bad reviews will negatively impact your ranking on search engines like Google, Yelp, and Facebook because review signals make up a significant percentage of how platforms rank local search results. Overall, strong online reputation marketing is crucial to any business looking to attain more visibility, generate leads, and improve sales.
But nothing is true without adequate data backing it, right? So, let’s see five statistics that show how much influence customer reviews influence consumer behaviour in this guide.
1. Most people will not patronise a business with poor reviews
Research shows bad customer reviews will do your business a lot of harm. The moment
customers spot many poor ratings from previous consumers, they see a red flag and steer clear of such a business.
Having more negative reviews will make any brand lose credibility, but a mix of good and bad reviews shows that your business is real. Finding a balance is crucial, so you should aim for a healthy combination of 5-star, 4-star, and 3-star reviews.
Companies with overall 4-star ratings or higher are considered more trustworthy than those with perfect 5-star reviews from many people. So, ensure the utmost customer satisfaction or 94% of potential customers will avoid your products or services.
2. The average customer trusts online reviews and referrals
As much as referrals from friends and family can influence someone’s decision to buy a product or use a service, over 92% of customers use online reviews to decide before making purchases.
That means online reviews from strangers carry more weight than word-of-mouth referrals from the people around them. It’s important to note that these consumers also value referrals, but they rely on online reviews to gauge other people’s opinions about a product or service. Since online reviews are free and easily accessible, consumers often get a second opinion from reviews before finally making a purchase.
3. More people will patronise brands with reviews than the ones without
Most consumers are more confident and comfortable about purchasing from brands with reviews on their websites or other credible platforms like Google. This is because the average unhappy customer will likely drop a review to discourage others from using a product or service than a satisfied customer. So, getting a good number of positive reviews over negative ones means a business is reliable.
For instance, Tripadvisor states that 52% of its website users say that they won’t book a hotel with zero reviews. Interestingly, you don’t need hundreds of reviews to attract and convert customers. The chances of customers purchasing a product with only five reviews are 270% higher than the chances of them getting a product with no reviews.
4. Many people will not eat at a restaurant with average rating
According to Restaurant Star Rating Research, 33% of people said they would not eat at a
restaurant with an average 3-star rating on popular online review platforms like Google and Yelp.
Similarly, 43% of restaurant-goers will likely leave a review after a great dining experience.
Hotels are also not left behind in the online review game. Tripadvisor says that about 8 out of every 10 website visitors (79%) will book a hotel with a higher rating than another with a lower rating – even if they offer similar services and have identical facilities.
So, if you operate in the hospitality industry, your chances of winning or losing sales largely
depend on your ability to keep your customers happy. You can achieve this by managing their reviews and taking feedback from time to time to optimise their overall experience.
5. Online reviews increase sales
The average business with an online presence can boost their sales by up to 18% by having more positive reviews. This is because these reviews clear consumers’ doubts and keep their worries at bay. So, potential customers will be more confident in patronising you when you make your reviews public.
So, if your goal is to increase your conversion rate and build your brand reputation, you should ask your customers to review your brand online.
