PMcrunch

In today’s online age, product reviews are very popular and widely available. They provide a great service to consumers and they do put power in the hands of consumers, eroding some of the power of advertisers. However, like the skewed views we can get from advertisers, we can get equally skewed views from reviewers. Let’s take a look.

We need to consider the source of each review. I have seen reviews more than once on sites as well known and respected as Amazon where it was obvious to me that the reviewers were "planted". While reviews are open for anyone to give, oftentimes, those promoting a product will get a few friends and associates to provide positive reviews. We need to be very careful about that.

Another observation is that there is a certain group of people that will review products. This goes back to what politically, in the United States, back twenty years go, was called the "silent majority." This means that the majority of the people will never do a review, so we need to be aware of what the characteristics are of those who do.

Sometimes those who review are those who are extremely positive about the product. This certainly is good information but we need to be aware of our own needs and our own potential level of enthusiasm related to the product. Will it help us as much as it helped the reviewer?

Oftentimes, also, reviewers can come from the ranks of the negative and frustrated. The reality on the Internet is that people can comment or review whenever they want. If someone happens to have had a recent bad experience with a product and, perhaps, a bad experience with something else in their life, they may very well write a negative review. It also may be that the problem that they might be discussing soon after is solved and was actually a reasonable thing to have happened. That person does not go back in and correct what he said; that negative review can last on the Web for a long, long time. Another reality is that people are more likely to say something negative than to say something positive.

Oftentimes those who say something positive may also have the ulterior motive of simply getting a little bit of publicity for themselves. Again, this is not necessarily bad, but we need to take it with a grain of salt. Indeed, I think we need to take all reviews with a grain of salt and maintain some perspective about reviews in today’s world.

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John Reiling, PMP
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