How many reviews do you read before buying a product online? Although this would vary by vertical, I would hypothesize that potential customers would need up to ten anonymous reviews before converting to a sale, whereas they may only need one or two recommendations from friends. Do you agree and do you have any data to prove/disprove this? I rarely look at aggregate ratings at allow guidance, since reviews are indeed so easy to fake. I make a qualitative assessment: I jump in and look at the negative reviews that have the highest "helpful" ranking. If I see multiple one-star that describe a similar set of issues, I will put great weight on that. Then I will read some of the 5-star reviews for contrast. I will also consider the total amount of reviews to make sure the products has had a good "shake"
I'm also always more interested in negative reviews. I have to find out whether I should buy the product or not and negative reviews often provide some good reasons why the product or store I want to buy something from should be avoided. If I can't find any negative reviews then I most likely won't buy that product or from that store because no product or store no matter how good it is will have a 100% positive feedback.
Hmm.. If I know what I am buying, I rarely look at reviews to see what the product is like. All I want to know is whether the seller is good, bad, or ugly. That's what I read reviews for when I know a product. If I don't know much about a product, I rely completely on reviews, articles, blog posts, videos, etc. I don't trust any online review sites completely since good and bad reviews can always be bought, but when you look at all the content that is out there about a product, I am generally able to make my decision. Finally, if a product costs less than say 50 bucks, I rarely do a lot of research. Even though I don't make a lot of impulse purchases, but my time is worth more than putting in research for a 10 dollar trinket that may not be lifechanging.
Usually 2/3 will be enough. If I am a bit suspicious about the authenticity of them I'll read a few more, but fake reviews are often easy to spot (I wrote them myself at one point) The comments are more important to me than simply the star rating the user has given. It's too easy to be fairly satisfied and give it an undue 5 star rating, likewise many people finding minor imperfections will often give something a 1 star rating unfairly.
Yeah, I have been at the receiving end of a few unfair bad reviews. I mean "I don't like earphones in general" is not a good reason to mark my products as 1 star products I have tried to get Amazon to understand that they need to get such dumb reviews off of my product listings. Anyways, I was happy when Amazon removed fake reviews last year. I guess one of my competitors had paid off a few people to give me bad reviews. And all of those reviews disappeared the moment Amazon stepped in. I hope the whole fiverr racket doesn't start again.
I think that it's important to read reviews for any product you buy. I don't like to waste money on things that I might not be able to send back especially, so on those items in particular I make sure to read as many reviews as I can. I often look on websites other than the one I plan to buy from for reviews of a product as well. Where possible I'll look for reviews of the seller, for example on eBay where you can see what other customers thought of the entire process. I find reviews are very helpful in deciding if to buy or not.
I would say that genuine reviews give a lot of information. But, many reviews are not detailed. So, I also like to read what the blogs have to say about products because even though they may be a little biased, at least I can get more information on the product and what it feels like to use it.
I read several reviews to get the feel for made up reviews and the real thing. I may read several before I decide whether I will pass on the product or purchase it. If all of the reviews are negative I will pass on the product
I usually use read the negative reviews so I know what the possible setbacks I may be in for if I choose to purchase the product. I read the positive reviews too of course but I give priority to the negative ones just so I can prepare myself for the worst if I eventually make the transaction. In general I'd say I check an average of about ten reviews equally from both sides but I often tend to read all of the negative reviews just so I can check out every negative possibility before I make my final decision.
I try to read as many reviews as I can. I also read negative as well as positive ones. The most important thing for me is the proportion of negative reviews to positive ones, though. If a product has at least 25% of negative reviews, I will refrain from buying it. However, you never know if a review is genuine or fake so I get suspicious if a product has only positive reviews - you cannot please everyone!
Hmmm... It depends really. I almost always go to blogs to find reviews and sometimes, on the seller's site as well. Personally, I try to read at least five reviews that are of high quality. This means that the reviews highlighted the pros and cons on the product. Many bloggers review sponsored products and rarely highlight the bad points of it. Or if they do, it's usually something petty or small that doesn't even matter. If the review is like that, I exit the page and find another review. I like to look for certain points that reviewers agree with. And if at least five bloggers have the same views, then that means that the product has got that aspect right. If the pros outweigh the cons, then I'll be more accepting of the product and probably buy it. But I'd take into account the cons as well since they can make or break a deal. Otherwise, I let my gut feeling about the product pave the way. Usually, it's right anyway especially if something seems off or not right. I mostly look for reviews for makeup online and not a lot of reviewers are honest. If I can get a hold of the product or test it personally, that's where I would judge it.
Although the product has been well recommended to me by friends,i cant help myself but look through reviews searching for any negative cooments just to have an excuse to purchase the product or not.If the comments aren't too bad I definitely purchase the product without hesitating.
I'm pretty much like Denis Hard, in that I almost always go to the negative reviews in order to make an informed decision. I also read a few of the rave reviews, but I also want to know what's making people unhappy. I don't have a specific number of reviews I'm satisfied with, and it varies. There are times when a small handful is enough for me to make up my mind, other times I can spend an hour or two going through pages upon pages of them until I'm happy with the findings.
I'll never stick to just the site I'm buying off to read reviews, I'll read a few then look up the same product on multiple sites. This way, I'm more likely to find the honest ones. Also, another great thing about doing it this way is you can see if any other sites are selling the product you want for a better price.
