Influencing Consumer Behaviour: A Positive or Negative Outcome for Consumers

While browsing through Shopper’s Drugmart, I found myself searching the internet for reviews on a specific product.

Review sites aren’t limited to only products, but there are also review sites for restaurants (Urbanspoon) and movies (Rotten Tomatoes). Statistics show that 97% of consumers use these review sites to decide on what to purchase. These reviews will influence their decision on purchasing the item, however, there seems to be debate on the reliability of these review sites. Just about anyone can write a review on any product, and most of the time, I’ll find myself thinking that some of the posts are not reliable because they’re not true or they have bias opinions. Consumers rely on positive word of mouth from people who have used the product or service, but can they rely on the opinions of people who have different preferences? Not only that, there is no reliable source to measure the authenticity of a review. Companies have been caught writing fake reviews on Yelp, and there is no easy way to filter the reviews and tell if the review is a fake or not.

In the end, I believe that the decision boils down to your own judgement, and trying the product for yourself to know if you like it.

Image: http://www.localsearchgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Review-Sites.jpg