By J. N. Halm
Do you know there are websites where you can put yourself out there for people to rate you? Yes. Just like customers would rate or provide reviews of products, there are also sites where people can be given personal reviews.
These reviews can be about something they have done or even about parts of their body. Interesting, if you ask me. But that alone tells you how important the views of others are to people. People indeed value what others say about them.
One such review sites is www.rate-my.org. On this site, you can ask people to rate your face, stomach, legs, feet, hands, and even your backside. Your tattoos, piercings, and styles can all be rated by others.
There is also ratemyface.com which, as its name suggests, is strictly for people who want to know how beautiful or handsome they are.
There is even one site where you can upload your photos and complete strangers will rate you on key traits such as competence, likability, trustworthiness, etc.
According to the promoters of this site, photofeeler.com, the idea is to ensure that your online image gets the right response from people. Some will argue that these are just sites for people to feed their vanities—with very little real substance to what they offer.
Thankfully, we still have a lot more sites where products and services are given reviews and rated by customers. Those kinds of sites make more sense to me. This is because business is about catering to the needs of others.
Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to want to know what potential customers think of what you are offering. The reviews and ratings customers give to a product or service can go a long way to help make your product (or service) way better.
The truth is that in today’s digital marketplace, online reviews have evolved from mere feedback mechanisms to powerful forces that can significantly influence consumer decisions and business outcomes.
Their growing importance has not gone unnoticed by businesses, especially those in the hospitality industry where reputation can make the difference between thriving and merely surviving. However, beneath the surface of star ratings and customer comments lies a complex ecosystem influenced by various biases and strategic collection methods.
A recent study published in the Feb 2023 edition of Service Science journal titled “How Firm Strategies Affect Consumer Biases in Online Reviews,” investigated how different review collection strategies employed by hospitality companies affect the characteristics of the reviews they receive.
The study’s findings shed light on a little-discussed reality: all reviews are not created equal, and the methods used to solicit them can significantly impact what ends up being shared online.
The importance of understanding review biases cannot be overstated. Online reviews have become critical touchpoints in the customer journey, with most consumers consulting them before making purchase decisions.
For businesses, especially those in the hospitality sector, these reviews can directly impact bookings, revenue, and overall market perception. However, the representativeness of these reviews has been called into question due to what experts refer to as Response Bias.
Response Bias occurs when certain groups of customers are more likely to leave reviews than others, typically as a function of their satisfaction levels. Traditionally, extremely satisfied and extremely dissatisfied customers have been more motivated to share their experiences, creating what is known as a J-shaped distribution in ratings.
This distribution, characterised by a concentration of very positive and very negative reviews with fewer moderate opinions, can create a skewed representation of the overall customer experience.
To address these biases and ensure a more representative customer voice, companies have developed various strategies to collect reviews.
The above-referred study specifically examined four different review-collection strategies employed by major hospitality companies and analysed how each strategy affected the characteristics of the resulting reviews, particularly in terms of ratings and length.
One of the key findings of the study was that the effort required to post a review significantly impacts review characteristics. Reviews collected through what the researchers termed Self-Motivation Methods—where customers take the initiative to visit review platforms and share their experiences without direct solicitation—tend to be lower rated and longer.
This finding aligns with the common understanding that dissatisfied customers are often more motivated to voice their concerns, and when they do, they typically provide more detailed accounts of their negative experiences.
In contrast, reviews solicited by companies through Post-Stay Emails tend to exhibit different characteristics. These solicited reviews generally show a more balanced distribution of ratings and tend to be shorter in length.
This difference can be attributed to several factors. First, by directly asking all customers for feedback, companies capture opinions from the “silent majority” who might otherwise not take the time to share their experiences. Second, the structured format of many solicited review systems may limit the length of feedback compared to the open format of self-motivated reviews.
The study also identified what can be called Platform Effects. This refers to the impact that different review platforms have on the characteristics of the reviews they host.
For instance, reviews on platforms like TripAdvisor, which are primarily driven by self-motivation, tend to differ from those collected through a hotel’s proprietary system following a post-stay email solicitation.
These platform effects further complicate the landscape of online reviews and highlight the need for businesses and consumers alike to consider the source of reviews when interpreting them.
Another interesting aspect of the study was the identification of what might be termed Temporal Bias. This refers to how the timing of review solicitation can affect review content.
Post-stay emails sent immediately after a guest’s stay might capture emotions and impressions that differ from those gathered days or weeks later. This temporal element adds yet another layer of complexity to the interpretation of online reviews.
The findings from this research have significant implications for both businesses and consumers.
For businesses, especially those in the hospitality sector, understanding how different review collection strategies affect the nature of the feedback they receive is crucial for developing a balanced approach to gathering customer opinions.
A mixed strategy that combines both solicited and unsolicited reviews might provide the most comprehensive picture of customer experiences.
For consumers, awareness of these biases and strategic collection methods is essential for making informed decisions based on online reviews. Savvy consumers should consider not just the ratings and content of reviews but also how those reviews were collected.
Reviews from platforms known for self-motivated contributions might offer different insights than those from proprietary systems that actively solicit feedback from all customers.
The study also points to what can be described as a Transparency Challenge for the industry. As businesses become more strategic in their review collection methods, there is a growing need for transparency about how reviews are solicited and managed. This transparency would help consumers better interpret the feedback they read and make more informed decisions.
From the ongoing discussion, it is clear that online reviews, while valuable, are subject to various biases and influences that can affect their representativeness. The strategies employed by businesses to collect these reviews play a significant role in shaping their characteristics.
Understanding these dynamics is crucial for both businesses looking to gather more balanced feedback and for consumers seeking to make informed decisions based on online reviews.
As the digital marketplace continues to evolve, the importance of online reviews will likely grow even further. Businesses that understand the nuances of review collection strategies and work to address inherent biases will be better positioned to harness the true power of customer feedback.
Similarly, consumers who approach online reviews with an awareness of these biases will be better equipped to use them as effective tools in their decision-making processes. After all, in the world of online reviews, context is king, and understanding how reviews are collected is an essential part of that context.
The post Of online reviews: How firm strategies shape online review biases appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS