What do customers express in online reviews
Online reviews are essentials in our purchasing behaviors. The average consumer today checks 10.4 information sources before buying1. 70% of Americans say they look at reviews before taking the next step to conversion2. In a previous post, we answered, “Why customers write online reviews?” 3. Today we want to identify, “ What do customers express in online reviews?”
Neuroscience studied 3955 individual ratings phrases, and gave qualitative insight about what is said on reviews4. It shows that 79% of phrases’ reviews are cognitive, 12.5% affective, and 8% conative. Thus, ratings are mainly informative rather than calling to action or expressing reviewer’s feelings. The Hierarchy of Effects Model5 developed by Robert J. Lavidge and Gary A. Steiner in 1961, suggests that there are six steps from viewing a product advertisement to product purchase. The steps are categorized in two cognitive steps followed by two affective steps and finally two conative steps before purchase. According to the HEM Model, the neuroscience study suggests that reviews help to perform only the cognitive phase of the buying funnel. As a conclusion, ratings are factual, emotions are taken away, product features are king and marketers are losing power…
Laurent Donnier
1 Social Trends Report 2012″, Bazaarvoice, June, 2012
2 Jim Lecinski “Winning the Zero moment of truth”
3 Laurent Donnier “Why customers write online reviews”
http://www.socialnomics.net/2014/03/0...
4 Andrew Baker, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Balaji Rajagopalan, Oakland University, Rochester & Ravi Parameswaran, Oakland University, Rochester (“explaining consumer ratings in online recommender systems”)
5 Robert J Lavidge and Gary A Steiner “Hierarchy of Effects Model” 1961
http://www.learnmarketing.net/hierarc...
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