Social commerce: bad reviews 'good for business'

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on January 20, 2012

Social commerce: bad reviews 'good for business'

When it comes to social commerce, bad product reviews are good for business according to data from social commerce company Reevoo, as 68% of consumers say they trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores, while 30% suspect censorship or faked reviews when they don't see bad scores.

The company's research found that shoppers who go out of their way to read bad reviews convert 67% more highly than the average consumer, and that three times as many consumers actively seek out and read negative user generated content as look for positive content.

Shoppers who seek out bad reviews are highly engaged with their pre-purchase research, viewing almost four times as many products as the average visitor to a site, and staying considerably longer.

However, the balance between positive and negative comments that a brand or retailer attracts varies according to whether a proactive or passive reviews strategy is employed.

According to Richard Anson, founder and CEO for Reevoo, "Consumers who seek out negative reviews outperform the average visitor to a website. We saw a 67% bump in conversion rates for these shoppers. Counter-intuitive as it may seem, negative user-generated content is actually one of the most effective conversion tools."

Reevoo has made a guide to its research available for free download from its website, examining both proactive and passive strategies and why bad reviews seem to be good for business - click here (free registration required).

More Info: 

http://b2b.reevoo.com