Money News
British shoppers are being warned to watch out for bogus customer reviews this Christmas. The warning comes as new research from YouGov reveals that customer reviews are five times more likely to influence online shoppers to part with their cash than advertising.
The study, commissioned by independent customer review service Reevoo, shows the increasing impact of shopper opinion on British online shopping habits as the country heads towards what is predicted to be a record £42 billion e-Christmas this year.
Six out of ten people say online opinions written by consumers who have already bought a product would affect their choice of what to buy. In contrast, just 12% said they would be swayed by online advertising.
Richard Anson, of Reevoo, said: "The influence of reviews is no longer in doubt and we think it is time that regulators looked at the way that customer reviews are presented online. Are they edited? Are they legitimate?
"Given the influence that customer reviews have, now is the time for regulation and standards to be applied, so that customers are not misled."
The call for regulation follows several high-profile cases of bogus online reviews highlighted by the consumer organisation, Which?. Indeed, it recently warned that some glowing internet profiles of hotels and restaurants are actually written by the hotel owners themselves.
The study reveals that shoppers are beginning to wake up to the possibility of fake reviews and won't believe everything they read online. While 79% are influenced by impartial ratings from shoppers who have definitely bought a product, only 14% would trust review programmes that are directly managed by retailers. Indeed, more than a third (36%) of consumers are worried about the authenticity of retailer-managed customer review programmes.
Amid concerns that some online ratings are just too good to be true, eight out of ten online shoppers agree that it should be a regulatory requirement for published reviews to be written by customers who have genuinely bought a product. And 84% think genuine customer reviews should carry a kite mark making it clear they are from a real purchaser and fully independent of the retailer.
Reevoo collates reviews from shoppers who have genuinely bought goods from internet stores, including Woolworths, Currys, the Carphone Warehouse, Dixons and the fashion website koodos. The organisation emails confirmed purchasers within a month of purchase and asks them to rate the product against a range of criteria. Reviews are not edited or used selectively. They then appear on the retailers' websites adjacent to the product.
05 November 2007 © Moneyextra.com
Moneyextra.com recommends you should consider taking independent financial advice before acting on any article. Please contact us for help with your individual circumstances if any assistance is required.