customer review
{{Short description|Review of a product or service by one of its customers}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
A customer review is an evaluation of a product or service made by someone who has purchased and used, or had experience with, a product or service. Customer reviews are a form of customer feedback on electronic commerce and online shopping sites. There are also dedicated review sites, some of which use customer reviews as well as or instead of professional reviews. The reviews may themselves be graded for usefulness or accuracy by other users.
History
Before the arrival of the internet, customers could review products and services through customer comment boxes and customer service helplines. These methods still exist today although internet review sites are used more in recent years.
Reliability
The reliability of customer reviews has been questioned.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jun/26/online-reviews-not-cracked-up | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Jamie | last=Doward | title=Online customer reviews – they're not all they're cracked up to be | date=26 June 2011}} Abuses akin to ballot stuffing of favourable reviews by the seller (known as incentivized reviews), or negative reviews by competitors, need to be policed by the review host site. Indeed, gathering fake reviews has become big business.{{Cite journal|url=https://hbr.org/2020/11/how-fake-customer-reviews-do-and-dont-work|title = How Fake Customer Reviews do — and Don't — Work|journal = Harvard Business Review|date = 24 November 2020 | last1=Proserpio | first1=Davide | last2=Hollenbeck | first2=Brett | last3=He | first3=Sherry }} In 2012, for example, fake book reviews have been revealed as significantly affecting ratings on Amazon.{{Cite web |date=2012-11-05 |title=Amazon removes book reviews by fellow authors |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/05/amazon-removes-book-reviews |access-date=2022-05-24 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Streitfeld |first=David |date=2012-08-25 |title=The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/book-reviewers-for-hire-meet-a-demand-for-online-raves.html |access-date=2022-05-24 |issn=0362-4331}} In 2016 Amazon banned the practice of reviewing complimentary products, researchers have shown that the process still continued as of 2021, but without any disclosures.{{cite journal |last1=He |first1=Sherry |last2=Hollenbeck |first2=Brett |last3=Proserpio |first3=Davide |title=The Market for Fake Reviews |journal=Marketing Science |date=2022 |volume=41 |issue=5 |pages=896–921 |doi=10.1287/mksc.2022.1353 |ssrn=3664992 |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3664992|url-access=subscription }}
Since few sites restrict users to reviewing only items they have actually purchased, it is difficult to know if a customer is real, has actually used the product they are reviewing, and is giving honest, unbiased feedback about the product or services being reviewed. Tools like Fakespot and ReviewMeta can help spot fake reviews on shopping sites like Amazon.{{cite news |last1=Ross |first1=Julianne |title=How to avoid falling victim to fake reviews when shopping |url=https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/reviews/amazon-fake-reviews |access-date=13 May 2022 |work=CNN Underscored |date=19 October 2020 |language=en}} Unfortunately, the tools do not work on most other websites that show customer reviews.
Public calls have been growing stronger, demanding that review sites be held accountable for publishing fake reviews. Most recently (June 2021), the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the United Kingdom has launched an investigation into whether Amazon and Google are doing enough to prevent fake reviews from being published on their sites.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57608138.amp|title = Amazon and Google probed over fake 5-star reviews|date = 25 June 2021}} Both businesses claim to have sufficient resources and policies in place to prevent fake reviews from being published.{{Cite journal|url=https://hbr.org/2020/11/how-fake-customer-reviews-do-and-dont-work|title = How Fake Customer Reviews do — and Don't — Work|journal = Harvard Business Review|date = 24 November 2020 | last1=Proserpio | first1=Davide | last2=Hollenbeck | first2=Brett | last3=He | first3=Sherry }} Legal steps could be taken against the giants if CMA determines those claims to be false. The problem has become so widespread that in 2023, the FTC announced plans to ban fake reviews and testimonials.{{Cite web |date=2023-06-29 |title=Federal Trade Commission Announces Proposed Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials |url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/federal-trade-commission-announces-proposed-rule-banning-fake-reviews-testimonials |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=Federal Trade Commission |language=en}}
Whether a customer receives an invitation or not, many businesses have expressed the wish that customers let the business know in the moment if some aspect of their interaction or product is unsatisfactory, so they can have the opportunity to fix it on the spot or provide compensation, rather than customers leaving unnecessarily disappointed and writing negative reviews.[https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2018/04/03/the-right-way-complain-when-business-does-you-wrong/ViUG7H6Jr6b7HkAjcDVPRJ/story.html Why ranting on Yelp is the wrong way to complain about awful service]
= Fake review scandals =
In 2010, British historian Orlando Figes posted reviews on Amazon praising his own work and criticizing that of his rivals.{{Cite web |date=2010-07-16 |title=Historian Orlando Figes agrees to pay damages for fake reviews |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/16/orlando-figes-fake-amazon-reviews |access-date=2022-05-24 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}
In August 2012, The New York Times revealed that John Locke had paid an online service to write reviews of his books, in order to artificially boost sales.{{cite news |last=Streitfeld |first=David |date=25 August 2012 |title=The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/book-reviewers-for-hire-meet-a-demand-for-online-raves.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012104343/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/book-reviewers-for-hire-meet-a-demand-for-online-raves.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |archive-date=12 October 2018 |accessdate=18 June 2013}}
In 2022, researchers from UCLA documented that millions of Amazon sellers purchase fake 5-star reviews through private Facebook groups.{{cite journal |last1=He |first1=Sherry |last2=Hollenbeck |first2=Brett |last3=Proserpio |first3=Davide |title=The Market for Fake Reviews |journal=Marketing Science |date=2022 |volume=41 |issue=5 |pages=896–921 |doi=10.1287/mksc.2022.1353 |ssrn=3664992 |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3664992|url-access=subscription }}
= Spoof reviews =
{{anchor|Customer review comedy}}
Humorous customer reviews are common on some major shopping sites, such as Amazon. These are often ironically or sarcastically praising reviews of products deemed kitsch or mundane. Another example is methylated spirits described in the style of a wine review.{{cite news |last=Doward |first=Jamie |author2=Emma Craig |date=5 May 2012 |title=Amazon spoof reviews bring art of satire to website |work=The Observer |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/may/05/amazon-spoof-reviews-satire |accessdate=5 May 2012}} A product may become an internet meme attracting large numbers of spoof reviews, which may boost its sales.{{citation |author=Steve Johnson |title=How Gut-Busting Customer Reviews Can Help Take A Product To the Top of the Sales Charts |date=29 June 2009 |url=http://www.youngmoney.com/business_planning/Customer-reviews-top-sales-charts/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213133551/http://www.youngmoney.com/business_planning/Customer-reviews-top-sales-charts/ |publisher=Young Money |access-date=8 May 2010 |archive-date=13 December 2009 |url-status=dead}} Famous examples include Tuscan Whole Milk and the Three Wolf Moon T-shirt.
Examples of spoof reviews include:
- A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates (book)
- f.lux (display color adjustment software based on the time of day){{cite web |title=f.lux - Comments |url=http://stereopsis.com/flux/ |quote=I need this app for my refrigerator. [...] I put a red light in my fridge and went down for some string cheese at 3 a.m. and ended up with a hot dog because it looked the same in red light. Thanks a lot. |accessdate=1 February 2013}}
- Osama Bin Laden's Hideout Compound (humorous reviews of Osama bin Laden's hideout compound written by Google Maps users after his killing on 1 May 2011){{cite web |title=Osama Bin Laden's Hideout Compound |url=https://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=9294138184493326603&q=bin+laden+compound,+abbottabad,+pakistan&view=feature&mcsrc=google_reviews&num=10&start=0&ll=34.171152,73.239085&spn=0,0&t=h&z=18 |publisher=Google Maps |accessdate=3 May 2011}}
- Uranium Ore{{cite web |title=Uranium Ore |website=Amazon |url=https://www.amazon.com/Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM/ |accessdate=19 September 2012}}
- "BIC Cristal For Her Ball Pen"{{cite web |title=BIC Cristal For Her Ball Pen |website=Amazon |url=https://www.amazon.com/BIC-Cristal-1-0mm-Black-MSLP16-Blk/dp/B004F9QBE6 |accessdate=9 January 2012}}
British spoofers have targeted several build to order novelty products made by Media Storehouse from two million licensed photo library images, including a canvas print of minor celebrity Paul Ross, and a jigsaw puzzle of Nick Humby, a former finance director of Manchester United.