Why You Should Not Trust Online Reviews

    If you are reading online reviews for e-commerce businesses, restaurants, hotels, fun parks, and other products or services, you should avoid taking them at face value. It has been proven that for businesses to attract customers and witness growth, they have to boost their online ratings. This is why a lot of businesses use fake online reviews to deceive and attract customers.

    According to a recent analysis, approximately 39% of online reviews are completely unreliable. Online reviews are so important to businesses that most of them buy online reviews, paying people to write about them. In a bid to paint their competitors in a bad light, some businesses pay people who have not used the targeted competitor’s services to write negative reviews about them. There are many reasons why it is not advisable to trust online reviews. Let’s take a look at a few of them below.

    The Review Could Be From the Company Employee

    Businesses are aware of the astounding impact positive online ratings will leave them with. For this reason, many of them engage in dubious ways to gain positive reviews. These businesses can hire their employees to write good reviews about their brand. For this reason, you cannot completely trust reviews when you are looking for a company that is honest about their products and services. 

    A study from the University of Illinois found that many companies pay people to write consumer reviews. Most of them use the help of their loved ones to write appealing reviews about their businesses.

    Positive Ratings Do Not Translate to a Great Experience

    Experts have discovered that the more positive ratings a product or service has, doesn’t always equate to a great product or service. For instance, some online shoppers may drop excellent ratings once the product is delivered to them quickly and in good condition. 

    Unfortunately, after a few weeks of using the product, they may be disappointed due to its poor quality or lack of functionality. In essence, even though they were satisfied due to the quick delivery and excellent condition, they still didn’t have a great experience using the product, and it’s too late to change their early review. 

    Most Businesses Have Negative Reviews

    Most businesses try their best to satisfy their customers. However, satisfying everyone isn’t possible. Some aggrieved customers will inevitably end up dropping bad ratings. Conversely, when a company attempts to make itself look perfect with excellent consumer reviews, it is important that you do a double-check. Every business must have offered products or services that are below standard, at some point. If you think a product is too good to be true, chances are that it is.

    Endnote

    Some deceptive businesses and online sellers can go to any length to create fake online reviews. In fact, some of these reviews may be from their employees or individuals that are paid to purchase their products and leave an excellent review. Keep these reasons in mind when you are reading online product reviews; they should always be taken with a pinch of salt. 

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