Online Review Statistics: The Impact on Consumer Behavior

Online reviews are social proof for your business. They help build a popular opinion about your products and services and play a significant, if not the most important, role in your customers’ purchase decisions. Let us see why online reviews hold so much power.

Why Are Online Reviews So Powerful?

How many times have you bought a product because someone you trust said they liked it? Most of us go by word-of-mouth when making an important purchase. In the present day, word-of-mouth has transformed into online reviews that help modern customers understand how effective a particular product or service is.

From deciding where to eat to making a big purchase, such as buying a car, modern-day customers highly rely on online reviews. Online reviews are so important that a significant 94% of people in a study have agreed that they have avoided engaging with a business because they read negative reviews on the internet.

Influence on Purchase Decisions

No matter how good your product is, you will not attract qualified customers if it doesn’t have good online reviews. The first place that individuals head to before purchasing a product is the internet. They read through the reviews of different brands on different websites to understand whether it is worth paying for. So, if your product has positive reviews from genuine customers, you are more likely to drive more customers.

Builds Credibility and Trust

Positive online reviews can help your brand build significant credibility and trust. Negative reviews can disrupt your entire business. Companies with an average rating of more than four are more likely to succeed than those with an average rating of less than four.

Your positive reviews are going to help you in the long run, allowing you to drive more sales.

Improves Visibility

The more visible your website is, the more successful your brand will be. But how does one platform have more visibility than another? The secret lies in positive online reviews.

Positive reviews feed the search engines with positive signals. When search engines such as Google or Bing index your website, they consider the reviews added by the customers to determine the value of your product and services and whether you are eligible to appear in the top search results of search queries. So, we can say that the more positive reviews your website receives, the more chances your page will appear as the top search results.

Social Proof

Social proof drives customers. We are more likely to buy a product or engage with a service if people around us, even if they are complete strangers, like the product. Your online customers are the biggest proof that your product or service is worth investing in and, therefore influences your potential customer’s purchase decision.

Most companies encourage their customers to post online reviews after they have purchased their products. This is done to understand what the customer feels about the product. Moreover, it can also be a complete game-changer in improving your services and products.

How Digital Reviews are Shaping Consumer Behavior

Nowadays, we don’t have to rely on a sales agent to find out information about a product or service we are planning to buy. Information is just a click away, and with a simple search on the internet, we can find everything that we are looking for.

When a sales representative talks about a product or service, it feels very gimmicky and made up. But when you have real-life insights into how the product works from people who are just like you and me, we tend to trust the information more.

Positive reviews ensure that customers like them have had good experiences with the product. On the other hand, negative reviews safeguard people from possible pitfalls and protect them from unnecessary expenses and purchases.

How Online Reviews Drive Purchasing Decisions

Although product descriptions are an important aspect of purchase, one can’t emphasize enough the role of online reviews. Here are a few common aspects of online reviews that influence the purchasing decisions of the customers:

1. Star rating: The average star rating gives the customer a quick perception of the product or service. Rating gives a simple overview of what customers think about the product without them having to go through a series of reviews to understand the popular opinion.
2. Number of reviews: The more reviews a product has, the more popular it is. On average, a product that has 20 to 99 reviews is considered to be popular. In addition, if the recent reviews on the product are positive, customers are more likely to feel confident about making the purchase.
3. Content of the reviews: Detailed positive and negative reviews are more valuable and persuasive. On the other hand, one-word reviews are viewed as fake, bringing a bad reputation to the brand.
4. Reviewer profile: The review’s authenticity is very important when purchasing. When the reviewer is a verified purchaser and uses natural language and tone when writing the review, prospective customers feel more confident. The reviews must also be relatable and genuine for the customers to trust the brand even more.

Online Review Statistics (Highlights)

Here are some online review statistics that will help you understand why they are so important for a business:

• 75% of the customers read online reviews when they are researching a business.
• Most customers read reviews on Facebook and Instagram before purchasing a product.
• 7 out of 10 customers accept that online review frequently influences their purchase decisions.
• 75% of customers are concerned about fake reviews and won’t engage with a brand that uses this tactic.
• 93% of users agree that online reviews have an impact on their purchasing decisions.
• 75% of businesses don’t engage with negative reviews.
• More reviews mean a better reputation. 59% of customers state that a business must have at least 20 to 99 genuine online reviews for them to trust the average star rating.

General Online Review Statistics

Most buyers read online reviews before purchasing a product. Online reviews are one of the most important aspects that influence purchase decisions. Let us look at some general online review statistics to understand this statement.

• 9 out of 10, or 93% of users, have made a purchase decision based on online reviews.
• 7 out of 10 individuals claim that they “always” or “regularly” view online reviews before searching for a local business online.
• Customers agree that they will not engage with a brand that has an average rating of less than 3.3 stars.
• 61% of customers read reviews from one or two websites before making a decision or purchasing from a brand.
• 7 out of 10 customers in America state that they very rarely engage with a new business without reading online reviews.
• 76% of customers agree to rely on online reviews more than ever before trusting a business.
• 66% of customers accept that online reviews frequently influence them before making a purchase. They also agree that they trust online reviews more than any other source of information to find information about a brand.
• 8 out of 10 customers use their smartphones to read reviews about a product while they are inside the store.
• Only 2% of customers never read online reviews before purchasing a product or service online. In fact, the number of people who never read online reviews has significantly fallen. In 2020, 13% of people agreed they never read online reviews; in 2021, it fell to 2%.
• Individuals are 1.5x more likely to be attracted by an online review than a discount offer. In fact, positive online reviews impact 32% of total sales. Although free shipping, coupons, and discounts also drive sales, online reviews beat them all.
• Nearly 50% of customers worldwide post an online review every month. However, consumers between the 25-34 age group are more likely to post online reviews than the older age group.

Popular Online Review Platforms

While there are numerous online review platforms, some of the most trusted ones include Yelp, Facebook, Google, Trust Pilot, Trip Advisor, and Amazon customer reviews. Here are some statistics about these online review platforms:

• In 2021, 81% of customers used Google to evaluate a local business. In fact, it is the only platform that more than half of the customers use to check online reviews about a local business.
• In 2020, 63% of customers used Google to evaluate a local business. Thus, the number of people who rely on Google for online reviews has increased by 18% in just a year.
• Collectively, Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor contain 9 out of 10 online reviews. This means that nearly 88% of genuine online reviews are found on these four platforms.
• Google is the clear winner in the battle between the top four online review platforms. It accounts for 73% of all online reviews.
• Among all the top four platforms, Yelp saw the largest year-over-year growth. In 2020, only 32% of consumers used Yelp to check online reviews. However, in 2021, 53% of consumers reported using Yelp. This is a 21% increase in just a year.
• Facebook saw a decline in the number of customers who rely on the platform for online reviews. In 2020, 54% of the total customers relied on Facebook for online reviews. This number decreased in 2021, when only 48% of consumers used Facebook for online reviews. This is a sign of declining trust in Facebook. As the platform is flooded with fake online reviews, 93% of consumers agreed that they were suspicious about the information they found on the platform.
• Instagram and Facebook are the most popular social media platforms for reading online reviews. In 2024, 45% of American consumers used Facebook to read about a business’s reviews, and 34% of customers used Instagram for the same. YouTube was a close competitor, with 32% of customers relying on the platform for reviews.

Fake Online Reviews Statistics

Fake reviews are a big problem. Although they are to be found on almost every review platform, the top four platforms witness the most volume. The problem with fake reviews is that they look so genuine that most of the time, customers get lured by these online opinions and end up wasting their money.

Even though it is easier to spot a fake review now than ever before, it is a hit or a miss in most cases. Moreover, little to nothing has been done to stop the influx of fake online reviews on the internet.

• Four out of five customers agree that they have read at least one fake review on an online platform in the past year.
• Younger customers are more likely to encounter a fake review than older customers. 92% of people between the ages of 18 and 34 have come across a fake online review in the past year. In addition, 74% of people between ages 35 to 54 and 58% of people above the age of 54 have come across a fake review in the past year. This data is alarming because over half of the online customers have encountered a fake review in the past year.
• 72% of online customers believe that fake online reviews have become “the new norm” in the online world.
• According to another study, 67% of consumers believe fake reviews are a significant problem because it is difficult to differentiate them from genuine reviews.
• Google is the largest platform for reviews, so it is not surprising that it reported 10.7% of fake reviews. Following Google, Yelp is second, with 7.1% of fake reviews. Third and fourth on the list are Tripadvisor (5.2%) and Facebook (4.9%).
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) listed more than 700 businesses that engaged in deceptive advertising in 2021. This list included big businesses such as Walmart, the Walt Disney Company, Ford Motor Company, and more.
• Google deleted around 22 million fake reviews in 2020. It also removed 3 million fake business profiles in the same year.
• According to another study, 75% of consumers were concerned about non-legitimate reviews flooding various online platforms. Nearly half of the respondents in the study were confident that they had encountered a fake review on the most popular platforms, such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook.
• Eight out of ten customers stated they are more likely to trust a written review than a star rating on most online platforms. The average length of a review on Yelp is 471. So, any review within or near these characters is believed to be genuine.

The Statistics of Consumer Reactions to Negative Feedback

Negative reviews have a severe impact on every small and big business. Similar to positive reviews, negative reviews have a grave impact on your products and services. If potential customers read a negative review about your business online, they are less likely to engage with your products and services.

• 17 out of 20 customers will think twice before purchasing from a business with negative reviews. This means that 86% of customers will consider the negative reviews that a business has received before making a purchase.
• 92% of users agree that they will only visit a business if it has a four-star or higher rating.
• We may think that negative reviews are not very serious. However, even one single negative review can lead to a business losing 30 customers. On the other hand, it takes 12 positive reviews to reduce the repercussions of one bad review.
• Three-quarters of businesses don’t like engaging with negative reviews online, which means that 75% of total businesses don’t like engaging with bad reviews. However, this could mean that these businesses are leaving behind potential opportunities.
• 25% of the remaining businesses that engage with bad reviews have seen an increase of 35% in their total earnings, which is a sign that customers appreciate transparent and honest brands.
• More than half, or 53%, of consumers want a business to react to a negative review within the first week of posting. 33% of customers appreciate businesses that respond to a negative comment within the first three days of posting.
• Two-thirds, or 63% of customers, said that at least one business has never responded to their online reviews.
• 96% of customers agreed that they look for negative comments specifically before they make a purchase from a brand, a steep rise of 85% in 2018. When people look for negative reviews, they are looking for weaknesses in the company, which will help them make better decisions.

Conclusion

A customer paying for a product or service will definitely not lie about their respective experiences. So, no matter how much a brand spends on online advertisement, genuine customer reviews are one of the most crucial factors that influence purchasing decisions.

Reviews must be viewed as opportunities for a business trying to engrave its mark in this highly competitive market. Reviews allow owners to understand the pros and cons of their business and identify areas that require improvement. Hence, as a business owner, you must always encourage your customers to provide you with their valuable feedback so that you can grow as a business and as an individual.