Recent research tell us that, 61% of users reported consulting sources of online customer feedback before making purchases, and 83% indicated online product evaluations had some influence on their decisions (the Online research corporation, 2008).
How influenced are you by online reviews, do you trust other people? Do you respect their opinion, or do you even believe they believe what they’re saying? With so much seeming influence a review can have, we all assume companies might be adding some reviews themselves.
We would assume rightly. What’s more it’s being done by a major brand, and at an organised level. Recently news got out that electronics company Belkin were paying people to post positive reviews based on their review writing criteria and to also discredit negative reviews (see image).
If there’s one thing that online feedback has taught us it’s that there’s not an awful not brands can hide these days, Belkin must have missed this lesson.
Source: Gizmodo
