Online Reviews Play an Important Role in Purchasing Decisions - Page 2 - Small-Business-Forum.net

vangogh · 11-01-2008, 08:02 AM

Kristine I know some companies will have employees review their products. Usually it's pretty obvious when they do. I think you have to look at reviews in totality. Usually there's going to be one or two gushing reviews letting you know how buying the product will cure all the world's ills. You can safely ignore those.

Then there will be one or two reviews telling you how the product is the most evil one ever created and if you buy it you'll regret every moment for the rest of your life. You can safely ignore those too.

If you spend time reading reviews you can easily sort out the honest ones. Some people really take the time to write a balanced review and those can be very helpful. For me it's usually the reviews at Amazon. I buy a lot of technical books and they're often expensive. Most of the time I'll visit a bookstore and and look through them myself, but sometimes I want a second opinion. I'll check Amazon and see what others have said.

Often the reviews will confirm or allay my doubts. Maybe after skimming it I wondered if the book was written for my skill level. I can read a few reviews that might say the book is excellent, but you should know x, y, and z prior to reading it. If I already know x, y, and z great. If not, I know to learn whichever I don't know before buying the book.

The idea isn't that someone says "This product is great" and then you rush out and buy it. It's more that comments from others who have used the product can offer additional information that you might not be able to get anywhere else.

mr.ro · 11-02-2008, 08:12 AM

Yes I do look at reviews when I buy online. And I agree if you have been buying stuff online for a while. You can spot the fake stuff from the real stuff.

I like reading off amazon as well and on itunes before I buy the music. I think that you should make a good product that says what it will do and does that, so your product will get good reviews as well.

I also trust reviews more than what the company has to say about it because the product is in the real world and people are not going to be bias to the product. I can't recale how many times I have not bought a product because of the review or vice versa.

vangogh · 11-03-2008, 05:37 PM

Quote:

I also trust reviews more than what the company has to say about it because the product is in the real world and people are not going to be bias to the product.

I think that's how most people see it. We trust the review more when it comes from an independent source. While some customer reviews aren't necessarily unbiased in either direction, they become easier to spot after a time.

Watchdog · 11-15-2008, 11:47 PM

We're hoping that ShopPass and the way we tied it in with MyShopPass will have good turn out in time with different ways to add reviews when we finially start the marketing (soon, we just wrapped up financing for it) on a local level. I don't think we'll go with the rating stars, they vener did make any sense to me?

We're now just wraping up a couple of features to add..one is the twitter and also we're adding the ability to add your video commercial.

11-01-2008, 08:02 AM	#11 (permalink)
vangogh Post Impressionist Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 6,431 Reputation: 59	Kristine I know some companies will have employees review their products. Usually it's pretty obvious when they do. I think you have to look at reviews in totality. Usually there's going to be one or two gushing reviews letting you know how buying the product will cure all the world's ills. You can safely ignore those. Then there will be one or two reviews telling you how the product is the most evil one ever created and if you buy it you'll regret every moment for the rest of your life. You can safely ignore those too. If you spend time reading reviews you can easily sort out the honest ones. Some people really take the time to write a balanced review and those can be very helpful. For me it's usually the reviews at Amazon. I buy a lot of technical books and they're often expensive. Most of the time I'll visit a bookstore and and look through them myself, but sometimes I want a second opinion. I'll check Amazon and see what others have said. Often the reviews will confirm or allay my doubts. Maybe after skimming it I wondered if the book was written for my skill level. I can read a few reviews that might say the book is excellent, but you should know x, y, and z prior to reading it. If I already know x, y, and z great. If not, I know to learn whichever I don't know before buying the book. The idea isn't that someone says "This product is great" and then you rush out and buy it. It's more that comments from others who have used the product can offer additional information that you might not be able to get anywhere else. __________________ l Search Engine Friendly Web Design \| Van SEO Design l Tips On Marketing, SEO, Design, and Development \| TheVanBlog l Custom WordPress Themes

11-02-2008, 08:12 AM	#12 (permalink)
mr.ro Member Wearing Out Keyboard Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: san antonio tx Posts: 50 Reputation: 10	Yes I do look at reviews when I buy online. And I agree if you have been buying stuff online for a while. You can spot the fake stuff from the real stuff. I like reading off amazon as well and on itunes before I buy the music. I think that you should make a good product that says what it will do and does that, so your product will get good reviews as well. I also trust reviews more than what the company has to say about it because the product is in the real world and people are not going to be bias to the product. I can't recale how many times I have not bought a product because of the review or vice versa. __________________ RM84 Studios

11-15-2008, 11:47 PM	#14 (permalink)
Watchdog Member Wearing Out Keyboard Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 69 Reputation: 10	We're hoping that ShopPass and the way we tied it in with MyShopPass will have good turn out in time with different ways to add reviews when we finially start the marketing (soon, we just wrapped up financing for it) on a local level. I don't think we'll go with the rating stars, they vener did make any sense to me? We're now just wraping up a couple of features to add..one is the twitter and also we're adding the ability to add your video commercial. __________________ MyShopPass.com or www.ShopPass.com