Survey Says: 98% of People Believe Online Reviews are Reliable

Online reviews have increasingly developed the past few years and ReportLinker conducted a survey to answer three questions:

● Do people trust online reviews more than their friends?

● Do they read reviews before buying a product or visiting a place?

● What items or activities are the most reviewed online?

Key results show that:

● 98% believe online reviews are somewhat reliable

● And 59% of shoppers believe online reviews are equally as trustworthy as a review provided by a friend

Consumers choose different online review sites depending on the product or service being researched:

● When looking for a good restaurant, consumers head to Yelp 53% of the time

● But for those looking for product reviews Amazon and eBay top the list, with each mentioned 57% of the time.

By far the most popular category of online reviews is electronics with 71% of mentions

● Hotel and restaurant reviews are the next most-popular searches (53% and 52%)

● Followed by automobiles, entertainment and clothing, beauty and personal care product reviews.

Despite an extensive reliance on these online evaluations, only 51% of online shoppers say they take the time to write them.

To see all the survey results click here.