In today's New York Times, there is a front page article about manipulating
the product rating system at Amazon.com.
Since I've converted to mostly online shopping because I like peer product
reviews to affirm my purchase decisions, I find this news about Amazon’s rigged
ratings to be most troubling.
While the article only covered one particular product, how do we know this
isn't wide spread?
And even though Amazon immediately stopped this particular technique of offering
rebates for positive reviews, how do we know there aren't other techniques that
are presently manipulating reviews, techniques that have yet to be uncovered?
I believe Amazon now has a problem because one of the reasons I personally
shop at an internet store over a brick and mortar store is the comfort of
independent reviews, which guide and confirm my purchase, but now I can't look
at online reviews without wondering if they’re corrupt.
What can Amazon do to restore my confidence?
Here is a link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/technology/for-2-a-star-a-retailer-gets-5-star-reviews.html?_r=1&hpw
The FTC requires that bloggers reveal any compensation they receive in return for blog posts (note the intentional non-use of 'favorable'). Practices like this, if widespread, will cause similar requirements for product reviews, which will be a much greater pain to enforce than blog posts. Another example of bad behavior leading to constraints/regulations and very little ethical marketers can do about it.
ReplyDeleteI like this article. I have a business in the tourism industry and about half of our business comes from Trip Advisor or Google reviews, so we actively encourage our customers to write a review for us. But, we don't specify 'perfect' or 'five star.' I understand why businesses would provide incentives for customers to give perfect product reviews. I was tempted to do so myself and would be willing to pay for them if it meant putting us at the top as the top rated provider.
ReplyDeleteGaming the system as VIP did discredits Amazon and poses a threat to the company's credibility as an ecommerce site. I see why Amazon came down on them hard, I would too. I've already had bad experiences buying parts for my car on amazon that didn't fit or work (locking gas cap, locking license plate screws) and books advertised as in like new condition that were torn up. I had no recourse because the return policy would not let me return an opened item, so all I could do was write a negative review. However, there were so many seemingly fake positive reviews that it did not make a difference.
Reviews are competitive and not easy to obtain, yet so important! One issue is that customers don't usually care enough to take the time to write a review and if they do they either really love your product/service or really hate it. Many of our customers in one of the businesses are elderly and don't have review accounts, are unfamiliar with the internet, etc and so would not write reviews even though they loved our services. I tried working with trip advisor to type their verbal reviews and ratings into the trip advisor system, but trip advisor would not allow it.
I had a reviewer give the company a poor rating because we didn't walk into an art museum or mental hospital on a FOOD TOUR. I even gave her a partial refund because of it, yet she still slammed us. I didn't think it was right, but there was nothing I could do. Trip advisor also severely punishes those that cheat the system, and it isn't worth the risk in my opinion.
I think that it is an ethical matter and that we must make sure to remain objective in receiving reviews as a company and providing reviews as a customer. Consumers should have reasonably objective information, which includes ratings, when making purchasing decisions online. Rating sites have the responsibility to enforce the rules and to ensure objectivity.
'Reputation Management' being taken to the next level. The scare here is that the platform itself takes a beating. Amazon, no doubt, has come down hard on the erring company. However, they need to be geared to proactively seek such defaulters out. Independent and experience based peer reviews are the backbone of why online sales themselves are getting a fillip. No seller should be allowed to hijack the process.
ReplyDeleteTripAdvisor is one of my favourite 'research' sites for hotels before I travel. And as a family we contribute a number of reviews as well. However, it is not very difficult to find rave reviews strewn all over...especially for small properties in off-beat places. Comments in an old Daily Mail article (http://tinyurl.com/3p6s26t) regarding misleading reviews actually show that many take the reviews with a pinch of salt.
For emerging countries like India, any such scandal still doesn't pose too much of a threat. The internet penetration is still not very high and a very small percentage of netizens actually transact on the net. None the less, the absolute numbers are so high and the emerging economies are so dynamic that one hopes for resolution to such issues before they spread like wild fire. India for now has 100 million internet users and the number of broadband users according to the latest data is just over 13 million (http://tinyurl.com/6qwljlf).
You would be able to appreciate my concern once you read this Business Standard article (http://tinyurl.com/6qwljlf). In a country like India - a 10 per cent increase in internet penetration can increase the GDP by $17 billion annually. With such possibilities an issue of distrust would be like killing the Golden Goose while it was still hatching.
Also, what about the reverse scenario? People demanding Service Recovery Gestures from erring firms or threatening with Bad Reviews.
Today: The UK's Advertising Standards Authority ordered TripAdvisor UK to reword marketing claims which state/imply all reviews are from real travelers and are honest or trusted. This only applies to the UK site, not the .com version. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16823012 Will there be further repercussions across other sites that feature reviews - real or not? Let's see. Meanwhile my strategy to all this overabundance of positive reviews is to read TripAdvisor's negative ones and see if they are substantive.
ReplyDeleteHere's a NYTimes article from last year that addresses reviewers for hire and highlights Cornell research to determine fake reviews. A separate study noted that top reviewers on Amazon got freebies from publishers. See http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/technology/finding-fake-reviews-online.html Bottom line: buyer beware.
I find this article very interesting and can relate. I recently purchased a new vehicle. As I was signing the loan paper work, the finance manager ask me if I was happy with the overall out come. I answered, "For the most part." He replied, "What will it take for you to give us a perfect score on our survey that Honda will be sending you?" He then pulled out a perfect survey to show me that I must answer every question with an "excellent" versus "good." Once these surveys are reported to Honda Motor company this particular store gets an overall review. I know first hand how some companies manipulate these reviews.
ReplyDeleteWith the rise of the Internet and the abundance of social media tools, ordinary individuals have been transformed from mere consumers of information to producers of information. The democratization of the Internet has shifted the balance of power from producers to consumers. In this overall milieu, more individuals are actively sharing their opinion about products, services, events, music and books to share their feedback- good,bad,excellent or terrible. Along with this upsurge there is also a growing impact of both friend reviews and anonymous
ReplyDeleteContinuing from my recent post-the impact of both known friends reviews and anonymous reviews on product/services purchase has grown significantly. A lot of consumers even in a brick and mortar environment are using their smartphones to check online reviews of the product before they buy. Manipulating unbiased online reviews in any manner discredits the impartial nature of feedback from consumers. Amazon cannot police every retailer that uses its platform and manipulates its product reviews, and cannot be held responsible for this unethical behavior. This is exactly why the major online properties protested the SOPA and PIPA bills that were proposed by the Us House of Representatives. You cannot get honey without the bees. Hopefully with the advances in algorithmic research, a solution can be found to identify fake reviews and subsequently eliminate them. The benefits of unbiased online reviews still any such isolated downsides.
ReplyDeleteFrom a 30,000 foot view of this subject, there was a study released recently "Talking to Strangers: Millennials Trust People over Brands" where they found that UGC product reviews are essential to Gen-Y before they make purchasing decisions. But how reliable is this information? And more importantly, what are the implications to your brand if UGC is constantly negative. UGC brings in a whole new dynamic to customer service and keeping the end user happy with your product/service. If your end user is not satisfied, everyone will know it - fast!
ReplyDeleteHere is a summary of the studies findings:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/6969/gen-y-wont-buy-without-user-generated-input#ixzz1lWRaJ9hC