The opinions of our peers are a reliable source when making a purchase decision. The report published by Weber Shandwick earlier this year reflected that, on average, consumers read 11 comments before choosing which product to buy. For his part, Nielsen was gathering at the end of 2012 that this index of credibility is increasing, and already 70% of consumers globally rely on online comments, 15% more than 4 years ago.
This does not imply that clients create everything that appears published, but their experience leads them to distinguish in most cases what opinions are real. According to the Voice of Customer (VoC) study, carried out by ERDM, these are the characteristics that influence the credibility of the recommendations:
- The amount affects the overall confidence of the product recommendations. Customers give more credibility to the opinions of other comments if there are several of them, both positive and negative.
- Buyers of fashion and cosmetics need to contrast opinions when assessing both the suitability of the product and the reliability of the products.
- The photos and data that appear in the profile of those who comment also affects its truthfulness. If the client’s photo appears along with its name, it will be more credible than if it is an anonymous icon along with a pseudonym or something like “setrse98XS”.
The more opinions, the better
QuickBooks, on the other hand, demonstrates how this type of comment and ratings positively affects the increase of sales, arriving mainly at the conclusion that the number of comments can be more important than the valuations. So:
Do not be afraid to ask customers to value your service. You will be pleasantly surprised that it will significantly increase your participation, and that this will be positive, to a great extent. The QuickBooks study shows that in the United States, 80% of participants gave a rating of 4 or 5 out of 5; While in the United Kingdom 88% of valuations were positive.
Products with more than 10 reviews (with a rating of 4 out of 5) received more clicks than those who only had 2, even though they were the highest rating.
The more detailed and personalized the opinions are, the better; More information will provide customers and generate more confidence in both the commentary and the product to which they refer. Therefore, encourage your customers to upload product photos and extend their comments.