9/1/13
Some 5% of online product reviews are written by customers that never purchased the item, according to MIT researchers. These reviews are significantly more negative than the 95% of reviews written by customers who purchased the items.
Customers who write reviews tend to be unlike the majority of a company’s consumer base. They purchase more items, are more likely to buy at a discount, are more likely to return items, and are more likely to purchase new or niche items.
Online reviews do matter. Low ratings result in less demand for the products, with this loss of demand lasting for at least 12 months after the review is published.
Researchers speculate that reviewers who post negative reviews without buying the product do so to give feedback to the company to improve their performance and to act as self-appointed brand managers. They also tend to want to enhance their perceived social status through the demonstration of their expertise.
Nonetheless, very few customers write reviews, accounting for 2% of online reviews.
SOURCE: MIT Sloan School of Management, Paul Denning, 238 Main St., Cambridge, MA 02142; 617-253-0576; denning@mit.edu; www.mit.edu.
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