Brands, manufacturers and sellers – we all read product reviews, our own and our competitors’. But while reading them and feeling more or less happier, depending on whether they’re positive or negative reviews, do we even know why consumers leave us reviews in online stores?
Getting back to the store, logging in, going to the reviews section and post what goes through our heads, as consumers, is not that easy. It requires some sort of motivation.
Why Do People Write Product Reviews?
The way you need to decipher your customer profile and understand why and how people buy your products, same way you also need to be able to crayon the profile of your product reviewers.
The reasons why consumers write reviews, just like when they buy your products, are most and foremost of emotional nature.
Knowing why they write product reviews helps you:
- understand the emotional place your consumers are coming from after having unpacked and used your product
- understand what the product review was meant for and whom it was addressed to
- reply to everyone with empathy
- use your customers’ advice and experience for a better purpose
What are the catalysts for writing product reviews, positive or negative?
The motivational factors that determine someone to write a product review after having used it are all built around generating satisfaction – for themselves and/or for others in the community. Nobody leaves a review unless they have something to gain out of that.
Here are 8 catalysts behind all product reviews that brands receive in online stores:
#1 – Altruistic emotions: concerns for other consumers shopping for the same product (for negative and positive reviews)
After using a product, consumers want to share their experience with others from a sense of concern towards other people who are interested in potentially purchasing the same product as they did. They feel a sort of responsibility for communicating to others what is about that product that caused them deep satisfaction or, by the contrary, dissatisfaction. They care about sharing the goods and the bads alike.
#2 – Venting negative emotions (in case of negative product reviews)
Consumers leaving very negative product reviews (1-2 star ratings) feel a deep sense of frustration. On an attempt to release their anxiety generated by a bad acquisition and wasted time with a transaction, they need to speak out loud and publicly blame the brand for how they feel.
The negative reviews are the consumers’ deep urge to let brands know they lamentably failed with their product and that, at the other end, a customer is extremely discontent and upset. They really need to hear back from you!
With these consumers, brands would be better off responding to and treating the crisis with care and support towards a favorable resolution. To react fast, brands need to add product reviews to their customer support channel and reply to them from there. FeedCheck can help here by sending new product review alerts right to your customer support platform together with all the product review details.
#3 – Advice seeking (in case of negative and neutral product reviews)
Sometimes, when people buy a product but face challenges in getting their jobs done with it, they share their experience and questions with the online store consumer community, hoping they might out about an easy and quick fix there. After all, there is where most of the consumers using the same product are and their experiences could be similar. Brands should monitor these interactions and respond to them in order to reduce returns and convert potential to new customers.
#4 – Contribution sense (when reviewers’ knowledge exceeds their peers’)
Not on a few occasions, especially when it comes to IT gadgets, experienced consumers in using products within a category (e.g. smartphones, tablets, drones etc.) are passionate about sharing their knowledge with their peers. They know they are ahead of their peers with their valuable comparative product analysis and want to offer help with a comprehensive and professional product review which almost always touches competitor products, too.
#5 – Desire to help the brand and potential future customers (for negative and positive reviews)
Consumers can feel contributive to brands’ product improvements and better future versions when they share their experiences with a product that failed to do its job entirely. They also feel responsible towards their peers to help them set their expectations right about a product.
#6 – Entertainment (for negative reviews)
Among all consumers, there’s always a pretty funny segment who feels intrigued about the gap between a product advertisement and the actual experience they had using it. Depending on the culture, their product reviews can take the form of real stand-up comedies. While they are funny, brands should realize that they do cover huge customer disappointments.
#7 – Product and brand engagement (for positive reviews)
Consumers can be so delighted with the product and the brand that they feel the need to promote it themselves among potential customers visiting the store and landing on the product review page. They’re so excited that the product exists and sharing their discovery with others who are still on search, makes them feel amazing.
#8 – Self-affirmation
Some consumers need to be present in the public space and say their word there, simply aiming for fulfilling an emotional need they have. That does not imply that their product reviews do not offer useful insights, just that the reason behind why they leave reviews is different.
Reading, analyzing and measuring customer feedback helps brands understand where their customers see value in their products and what they need to improve further on the road in order to meet their market needs and demands.
Responding timely and from a place of empathy to their customer reviews helps brands contribute to the online stores’ consumer communities with a lively, active and valuable presence, making a difference in their marketplace.
Ready to start your product review monitoring that helps you understand your reviewers, reply to them and discover product insights? FeedCheck helps today’s consumer-centric global brands to constantly pay attention to their and competitor online product reviews, understand their popularity in the marketplace and the foundation behind product performance in the eyes of their consumers.
Let’s connect for a discussion and a personalized demo about your and competitor product reviews.