Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

I recently read an interesting study posted by Myles Anderson on Search Engine Land that said 88% of consumers who read online product reviews trust the reviews as much as personal recommendations. The important caveat to this statistic, as noted by Myles, is that there must be multiple reviews on a product for this to apply, and those reviews must appear authentic.

Amazon’s recent lawsuit against fake reviewers throws this phenomenon into sharp relief. The company is targeting over 1,000 fake reviewers who have posted fraudulent reviews in exchange for financial compensation. Despite Amazon’s use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to combat fake reviews, there is still a growing market for writers willing to post fake positive (or negative) reviews on the site. Amazon has struggled with this challenge for years now, and deserves credit for working to build the trust of customers and prospective buyers.

This kind of trust issue can have serious financial implications for big brands. Canadian wireless network operator Bell was recently issued a fine of $1.25 million when it came to light that Bell staffers were writing and posting fake reviews on app download sites.

All these stories get me thinking. In the world of online product reviews, trust is key. Whose opinions do buyers actually trust? More importantly, whose opinions should they trust?...