Online Review: the Word of Mouth

ONLINE REVIEW: the Word of Mouth By Suji Lee

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How do people determine whether a product is worth the money they

pay or know their true value?

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With the lack of knowledge towards the product, the

purchased items often end up in the garbage.

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Then, how can we avoid these wastes?

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Online reviews are great resources in choosing the appropriate item

and knowing its quality.

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With its various perspectives towards an item, one is able to judge its usefulness for his/

her

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#1: SHOPPING

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Online product reviews have been helpful in selecting the right size, colour and design.

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According to 2013 General Electric Capital Major

Purchase Shopper Study, 81% of the consumers

have researched online prior to their purchase.

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#2: RESTAURANTS

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Online restaurant review websites like Yelp shows the

ratings and comments for the quality of the restaurant.

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On

TASTE

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On ENVIRONMENT

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And…

On SERVER’S ATTITUDE

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An extra half-star rating on 1 to 5 star scale

improves 49% of the restaurant’s sales.

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#3: BOOKS

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Although the storyline and the little summary of the book on the cover page may seem very intriguing, the

actual quality of the story is unknown until the readers actually read it.

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From the online book review, the readers are able to evaluate the worthiness the book by other readers’ comments.

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Online reviews allow for a summary with the various aspects of the product,

which leads to a better choice within the similarly categorized items.

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Hence, the online communication by writing and reading the review reduces the waste of money and time of going back and the times of disappointment.

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References • http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/study-81-

research-online-making-big-purchases

• http://www.bizreport.com/2012/09/berkeley-research-reveals-importance-of-online-reviews-to-re.html

• http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/12-statistics-on-consumer-reviews.html

• http://searchengineland.com/study-72-of-consumers-trust-online-reviews-as-much-as-personal-recommendations-114152

• http://www.reviewpro.com/reputation-research-statistics-2767

• All images found from Flickr under the Creative Common License

Picture by Anji Johnston on Flickr