A recent article discusses the increasing trend of companies writing or buying fake reviews to improve their online presence. Many popular sites such as Yelp have started policing such activities with algorithms aimed at targeting and removing fake reviews. As marketers we know how much misrepresentation can damage a product’s reputation…so why do it? Why is it attractive to companies to publish fake reviews? What are the risks companies take when publishing fake reviews? What are the potential impacts on the customer? Should the FTC ramp up regulation on online forums? Comment with your opinion.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Online Reviews - True or False?
In today’s digital world, it is common for companies to be represented online. Social media and the like open the forum to consumers to start a conversation about businesses and products. Most of the time these discussion forums act as a consumer’s first impression on a company they may not be familiar with….but how much of this information is true?
A recent article discusses the increasing trend of companies writing or buying fake reviews to improve their online presence. Many popular sites such as Yelp have started policing such activities with algorithms aimed at targeting and removing fake reviews. As marketers we know how much misrepresentation can damage a product’s reputation…so why do it? Why is it attractive to companies to publish fake reviews? What are the risks companies take when publishing fake reviews? What are the potential impacts on the customer? Should the FTC ramp up regulation on online forums? Comment with your opinion.
A recent article discusses the increasing trend of companies writing or buying fake reviews to improve their online presence. Many popular sites such as Yelp have started policing such activities with algorithms aimed at targeting and removing fake reviews. As marketers we know how much misrepresentation can damage a product’s reputation…so why do it? Why is it attractive to companies to publish fake reviews? What are the risks companies take when publishing fake reviews? What are the potential impacts on the customer? Should the FTC ramp up regulation on online forums? Comment with your opinion.
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I have been aware of this "problem" for quite some time now. I think online reviews are great since I do most of my shopping online now. Whenever I need something usually the first place I turn to is Amazon and I don't do too much research because I let the reviews guide my buying decision. I do take some of the reviews with a grain of salt, but overall if it is a popular product I have found that the majority consensus is right about the product.
ReplyDeleteI think companies write these fake reviews in hopes of fooling customers into making them think their product is awesome and that it is totally worth it to buy. I'm guessing sometimes they don't put enough effort into marketing their products so they don't get enough reviews so that is when they step in and write the fake ones to lure in more customers. I know Amazon has started marking their reviews letting other potential buyers know if it is a "certified" review made by an actual purchaser from Amazon's site. This gives me more confidence knowing that the review is less likely to be fake.
More regulation is definitely needed in this area because since online reviews are a relatively new idea, companies still believe they can trick the consumers into making them believe that their products are the best with the fake reviews. Real honest opinion reviews will only benefit the consumer because it will better guide them in their purchasing decision.