Trustworthiness of Online Reviews
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/smarter-living/trust-negative-product-reviews.html
In this article, Caroline Beaton explains the faults in trusting negative product reviews on all of the different shopping sites that we visit. While most reviews are positive, it’s usually the negative reviews that hold more weight as they describe specific deficiencies that a product might have. People trust reviews because they seem to be representative of the average consumer and can be applied to anyone. However, only 1.5% of buyers actually write a review, and those who do write reviews usually aren’t considered the average consumer. According to the article, “People who write online reviews are more likely to buy things in unusual sizes, make returns, be married, have more children, be younger and less wealthy, and have graduate degrees than the average consumer … Online reviewers are also 50 percent more likely to shop sales, and they buy four times more products.” Plus, some reviews aren’t even made by people who’ve actually used the product, and most people can’t tell the difference between a fake or real review.
People use product reviews as a sort of information cascade. The many shoppers that used the product before are passing down information to future consumers who may be interested in the product. However, in theory we assume that everyone in the information cascade has a similar goal and is similar to the rest of the group. The truth is that though we may interpret an information cascade to be made by those of similar minds, we can be misled by believing in the cascade. Outside of theory, information cascades become more complicated since not everyone gives a review and not everyone has similar goals or needs. Thus, as the cascade grows longer, those who may have given a positive review may be swayed against purchasing because they listened to reviews made by people with different personalities and views. Thus, the cascade continues on.