Have you every used the reviews and ratings section on Amazon or any website for that matter?
I know I have, and I assume we all have used it at least once. Whether it is shopping for a new blender to know if it will work or shopping for new athleisure (that was me this weekend), we all find ourselves scrolling to the bottom of the website page to read through, at least, the first few reviews of a product. Companies know that their customers use reviews so much that there are specific tabs to make it easier, Amazon allows customers to match height and weight on clothing reviews, for us to sort through to find the best reviews for us. See below to find the standard Amazon review template.
While the blogosphere is important, and we are participating in it right now, reviews are a more common place for companies and the average individual to see themselves using the groundswell. Groundswell chapter two talks more about reviews and ratings, alongside other technologies, that are used to communicate.
These simple ratings and reviews sections of websites were not always available to us. Reviews and rating are part of the technologies within the groundswell. The groundswell "is a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations" (9). Instead of having to use our friends for everything, like hey where did you get that shirt or what bank do you use for your high yield savings account, we can scroll through a bunch of individual thoughts from users who want to tell us their thoughts!
The Groundswell allows us everyday people, who don't know each other, to interact in ways that allow us to connect and get information. We are actually participating in a groundswell activity right now, it is called talking through the blogosphere. Being part of the blogosphere, either writing, reading, or commenting, allows us to talk to each other. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff analyze talking with the groundswell in chapter six of their book Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies.
While the blogosphere is important, and we are participating in it right now, reviews are a more common place for companies and the average individual to see themselves using the groundswell. Groundswell chapter two talks more about reviews and ratings, alongside other technologies, that are used to communicate.
"...rating and reviews have become so commonplace online that many may not realize those tools represent part of the groundswell trend." (27)
Ratings and reviews allow users to leave comments and responses as part of an ongoing conversation of the product. One in five online Americans participate in discussions forms, with reading ratings and reviews becoming common for nearly half of online Americans (27). A small amount of people may write the reviews, but they clearly do a good job since so many of us have the resources to see if we should size down or size up for that cute work out top. Reviews help the companies in the groundswell as much as they help us as consumers. Now we can leave reviews on a product if we have a problem and the company can see it right away so they can adjust their product accordingly (28). These slow motion conversations are truly so helpful for everyone.
Sometimes conversation is not always straightforward and business like, sometimes reviews are funny which makes them all the more enjoyable. Here is a video of someone reading funny reviews to give you a quick giggle!
Reviews are just one of many technologies that individuals and companies find themselves engaging with to talk to each other in the groundswell. It is a way to express concerns, questions, and enjoyment with a product that is shared with others engaging with that same product. Reviews and rating are even improving the business success of small businesses.
Reviews are a part of the groundswell that allows us all to connect to each other. Heck! Reviews helped me pick out a new shirt to wear to dance practices and I love it!
What about you? When was the last time you used a review? Do you find yourself more inclined to write reviews or read them?
Please let me know in the comments because I'd love to keep the conversation going in our little blogosphere!
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ReplyDeleteHi, Tereza. I haven't bought anything on Amazon, but we have a special shopping platform in China called Taobao. I wonder if you know it. Of course, all products sold on Taobao can be commented and rated, and customers give good or bad results according to their evaluation of product quality. These ratings and comments are very useful for future buyers, and quite a few buyers will turn away because of a bad review. Therefore, many small businesses and shops will try their best to prevent any bad reviews from appearing in places used for customer rating or communication. Some shops will beg customers to cancel bad reviews by transferring some money to them. However, what is the result now is that many customers (including me, of course) will refuse to buy any brand, store, enterprise or product without a bad review in the rating area. There are so many vigilant customers like us, because we always feel that this is untrue, how can everyone give praise? Therefore, many shops and brands take the negative impact of groundswell too seriously, for fear that the communication and evaluation of customers will destroy the customers' desire to buy their products, but people are just eager to know the truest quality of a product.
ReplyDeleteHi YiXie, Thank you for your comment. I find that to be really interesting. I have never seen anything get to the point where a business would buy off consumers for a positive review. I do think that is a problem. I know that on Etsy, an online store people can subscribe to to host their products, allows you to check if an individual made a purchase before reviewing. I think that I support businesses deleting negative comments only if someone did not actually purchase their product. Besides that I think it is unethical to delete negative comments, and I agree that I would also avoid a business that had no negative or constructive feedback at the least. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
DeleteHi, Tereza. At that time, I was shocked to see that the owner of a small Taobao shop would rather spend five yuan (RMB) than have a bad review in the buyer's comment area. To tell the truth, no matter how high the quality of a product is and how reasonable the price is, it can't be perfect, which means it can't meet the needs of all buyers, so I think it's really unnecessary to try every means to avoid bad reviews. The buyer's behavior of covering up bad reviews made me feel cheated.
DeleteHowever, there are also some buyers who attack stores or products with inexplicable malice, for example, in the official flagship store of some brands of Taobao, they made rumors that they bought fakes. Of course, in this case, there will always be good visitors to uphold justice, openly pointing out that this is a rumor and seeking justice for the shops. I can only say that in such an era when the customer's remarks influence the lifeline of the store, the harmonious environment needs to be jointly maintained by the store and the buyer.
Hi Tereza, great point about reviews!
ReplyDeleteI recently had to get a new backpack for school. I needed a rolling bag because I have a large laptop (makes it easier to have multiple screens open at once), but my backpack was falling apart and my laptop was just making it too heavy for me to carry around a backpack all day. I also wanted something I could travel with as I start thinking about my job, which will require travel after I graduate. I went to Amazon and the first thing that I did for every option I clicked on was scroll all the way down the reviews and read them. It's such a reflex for me at this point, I don't even think about buying something without reading reviews. I literally watch reviews for notebooks, pencils (I mean while we're here - reviews about office supplies are so calming to watch videos of - but I digress), makeup, shoes, literally everything.
I agree that it is such an important part of the groundswell. I would love to know your thoughts - what do you think are some ways to make the review process even more engaging?
Looking forward to continuing to engage with you in this course!
Hi Karen! I love a good backpack review honestly. I remember having to look up carry on backpacks when I went abroad (before Covid sent me home) and it was such a good time.
DeleteHonestly, I think besides someone's one individual writing style (which can make reading a review they write very fun), the best way to make the review process more engaging is to have the reviews either come first or be more interactive. If when I typed in "athletic top" and Amazon allowed me to put in my height, weight, and concerns into the search bar first - the computer could search through products that have reviews that talk about that. This would cut down on the time I have to search. Or the addition of a video feature. I love to see people talk about products, so if a review could include a little video, it would help me enjoy the process more.
Hi Tereza,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post about reviews! I love your ideas about the reviews, I can really relate to your perspectives since my post was also about reviews and comments, but you illustrated the powerful strength of reviews better than I did. Thanks to the reviews and the people who put efforts to write reviews, we could now what the product or service is really like. Reviews helped us see some other aspects that were not included in the advertising, reviews are more objective, more authentic. More and more people and organizations value the importance of reviews, therefore, we have yelp. Now, reviews do not only show up in commentary, many bloggers started to write evaluation reviews in their own channels. When those bloggers gained enough attention and followers, some brands and organizations would approach and ask them to help promote their products or services, in the form of reviews.
The pictures you chose helped verify your points very well. By the way, I love the design of your blog, very fresh and cool and delightful. I look forward to reading more of your amazing posts.
Sincerely,
Anzhe Li
Hi Tereza，
ReplyDeleteI like your beginning. Comments are very important to any industry. A good comment is a good reputation for a product or a business. In this highly competitive society, leaving a comment is no matter good or Bad is an opportunity for businesses. But a good reputation can continuously gain the support of new users and old users.
Hi, Teresa, great post about the importance of reviews. I like the sentence in the summary, "Reviews are a part of the groundswell that allows us all to connect to each other". It shows how the reviews help us to connect with each other to get information we want. And I would like to answer your question. I always read the reviews more than I write reviews. I am the information getter in the groundswell. But sometimes I am willing to write reviews to provide information because I have a strong sense of feeling or emotion on the item, and would like to share information with others. I believe that reviews can influence a large number of people, as you said, it even used during the presidential election. With the development of the internet, there is an existing job - review writer. They are a group of people who write reviews for brands - in order to attract more potential customers. However, something inveracious happened as the products do not match the reviews. So, in the groundswell, we need to learn to identify the authenticity of information.
ReplyDelete