When I need to purchase something new or hire someone to come make a repair in my home, I really appreciate being able to read reviews about the product or service. I often use reviews to weed out inferior options and to compare similar ones.
Unfortunately, reviews have become somewhat of a minefield. It has become increasingly difficult to use them because sites are often littered with fake reviews (i.e., positive reviews that dishonest companies paid individuals to write). Likewise, many consumers leave useless reviews (e.g., reviews that are too generic, reviews that address something other than the product or service).
Can we still benefit from reviews? Absolutely! We just have to be aware of the pitfalls associated with using reviews so we make sure we avoid them. Here’s how I go about doing this.
How to get the most out of reviews of products and services
If you’re making a significant purchase or paying someone to perform work on your home, then putting a little time and effort into considering reviews can save you a lot of hassle and money down the road.
Use a variety of sites
One way to get an overarching view of a product or service is to read reviews on multiple sites. For example, if you are purchasing a coffeemaker, you can watch video reviews on YouTube in addition to reading reviews on Amazon and Walmart.com. If you are looking to hire someone to clean your house, you can read reviews on Yelp, Angie’s List, and local city guides. Using multiple sites increases the likelihood that you will see reviews from a wide variety of individuals who have had a range of experiences with the product or service.
Consider the overall number of reviews
If a product or service has an overall rating of 5 stars, but it has only been rated by 12 consumers, then you can’t assume the product or service is truly 5-star quality. It may be, but you simply can’t trust that the experience had by those 12 consumers will be the same experience the next 1,200 consumers have. However, if a product or service has been rated by 2,000 consumers and it has an overall rating of 5 stars, then you can be a little more confident that it is truly 5-star quality. When lots of reviewers find the service or product to be good, then you know the experience of the first few reviewers wasn’t a fluke!
Read the content of the reviews
It is important to take time to closely read the reviews. Don’t just skim over the first ones on the page or look at how may stars a product has! Consider the following details.
- Dates of the reviews. If a product or company has been around for a while, then some of the reviews for it may be several years old. These may still be relevant, but they may not be. For example, the manufacturer of a particular bottle of lotion may have changed the ingredients or a restaurant may be under new management. It is helpful to sort the reviews by date so you can read the most recent ones. This will help you see if the product or service is as highly rated today as it was months or years ago.
- Signs the reviews may be fake. There are several red flags that indicate reviews are likely fake (source and source). Do the following to spot fake reviews.
- Sort the reviews by date. When a product or service has fake reviews, the 5-star reviews for it will likely have been posted when it was first launched. Since that time, the reviews will be negative or mixed. This occurs because manufacturers and service providers will pay individuals to write fake reviews when they first begin offering their products and services. As time passes, the truth comes out in the form of legitimate reviews. Thus, it is a concern if the only 5-star reviews for a product or service were posted soon after its launch.
- Look for verified purchases. Many websites, including Amazon, note if a reviewer actually purchased a product or not. If the reviews for a product (especially one with overwhelmingly positive reviews) don’t indicate the reviewers purchased the product, then be suspicious. The reviews may be written by reviewers who have never used the product.
- Consider the words used in the reviews. If you see the same phrases used over and over again, then the reviews may be fake. This is because companies often provide a script or suggested feedback when they enlist the services of fake reviewers. It’s common for fake reviews to be outsourced to international content farms; therefore, if reviews have numerous spelling and grammatical errors, there’s also a good chance they are fake. Likewise, if the terms “I” or “me” are used more often than is typical, then it is possible the reviews are fake. This is because fake reviewers try to sound credible by using lots of personal pronouns.
- Check out the profiles of the reviewers. Most websites require users who review products and services to create profiles. If you click on a reviewer profile and see that he or she always gives 5-star reviews, then his or her reviews may have been purchased. Profiles with generic names and those that lack profile pictures may also be fake.
- If reviews were sponsored or given in exchange for free products. It’s not uncommon for companies to provide free products or services to consumers in exchange for honest reviews. This isn’t necessarily problematic. However, reviewers should disclose that they received a product or service for free so that you can keep this in mind when reading a review. Though I think we’d all like to believe we can be impartial, the reality is that we’re human and this means we may be inclined to be really positive in our reviews if we were given the products or services for free.
- Utility of the information provided in the review. Unfortunately, sometimes reviewers write content that is practically useless for other consumers. For example, they’ll be so generic in their reviews (e.g., “It’s nice,” “I like it,” “It’s as I expected,” etc.) that you don’t actually learn anything about the product or service. Other reviewers will complain about something besides the product itself, such as how long it took for the item to arrive in the mail. Thus, it is important to wade through enough reviews that you find numerous ones that detail specific information about the product or service.
Glance at the question-and-answer content
Most websites provide a space where consumers can ask reviewers questions about a product or service. You can glean lots of information from reading over these questions and answers! There may be details about the product or service that surprise you. Thankfully, these questions and answers tend to be untainted by fake reviews (the fake reviewers don’t return once they posted their reviews and they wouldn’t be able to answer the questions convincingly), so they often provide a very clear picture of the product or service.
Check with friends and family
Sometimes it’s useful to step away from the internet and see if “real people” (friends, family members, neighbors, etc.) have feedback regarding various products and services. This allows you to get suggestions from folks you trust. Additionally, you can ask as many questions as you’d like and get answers in real time.
If possible, look at the actual product or service
It’s useful to read reviews and see images online, but it’s also valuable to see an actual product or service yourself. You might be able to do this when you check with family or friends or you might be able to do it in a store. For example, you might read reviews and see some videos online about a particular smartphone, but your perspective of it might change when you hold it in your hands at an electronics store. Likewise, if you’re hiring someone to remodel your bathroom, it would be really nice to see some of their work firsthand. Combining the information gathered from online reviews and hands-on examinations can help you make a sound purchase.
Final thoughts
This seems like a lot to consider when you’re just trying to select a tricycle for your child or hire a plumber to fix a leak. However, most of the things listed above aren’t that time consuming. It’s definitely worth what time and effort it does take if you end up with a quality product or service!
Do you use online reviews when making a purchase? If so, how do you get the most out of the reviews?
Shared at the following:
Encouraging Hearts and Home, Over the Moon, and Busy Monday.
These are great points! I find it helpful to look at the pictures that reviewers sometimes leave, too-that can be a nice way to get an idea of the size or color of an object that you can’t see in person before buying it.
I must confess that as great and helpful as looking at reviews are, I’ve found that I often run into the problem of overthinking so many purchases that I make online because I studiously analyze reviews, and just when I think I’ve made up my mind to get something, I’ll see a few bad reviews and then I’ll rethink everything! I think I just need to remind myself that just because an item has a couple of bad reviews and dozens upon dozens of good ones does not mean that it’s necessarily a bad item.
I tend to over analyze things, too, AnneMarie. One thing I didn’t mention above that I probably should have is that I like to look at the distribution of ratings (what percentage of the reviews were for 5 stars, 4 stars, 3 stars, and so forth). This can often help me overlook a few bad reviews if most of the reviews are in the 4 or 5 star range.
That is a great idea!
Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared. Have a lovely week. I hope to see you at next week’s party too!!
Thanks, Marilyn!