I’m curious how you, as a reader, feel about customer reviews at Amazon. I made this simple survey hoping to find out.
Please answer how you feel as a reader (not as an author).
This survey is just for informational purposes only.
Here is your chance to review the review system. 🙂
Pros:
- You can learn about experiences that other customers have had with the product.
- The number of reviews give some indication of how much a product has been purchased.
- Feedback often includes a variety of opinions to consider.
- You get to express your opinion about products where thousands of other shoppers can read it.
- Critical reviews can help to prevent the sale of products that really aren’t fit for sale (though returns and complaints could achieve the same outcome).
- Honest customer feedback has the opportunity to determine the success of a product.
Cons:
- Opinions are often contradictory, making it a challenge to judge what to believe.
- The system can be abused, both with favorable and critical reviews (though Amazon has made it much more difficult to do this compared to a couple of years ago).
- There are sometimes spiteful remarks in the review section. This is one feature that seems to contradict Amazon’s focus on creating a positive shopping experience.
- Customers aren’t required to either buy or use a product in order to review it.
- Reviews can be posted anonymously. This is a pro in terms of internet security, but leaves room for occasional reviews that abuse the spirit of the review system.
- Some external advertising services require a minimum number of reviews and average star rating, providing an incentive to recruit favorable reviews rather than encouraging reviews to come about naturally.
Overall:
- Do you feel it’s beneficial, as a reader, to have customer reviews on the product page? That is, do the pros outweigh the cons?
- Do you like the comments, the ratings, or both?
- Do you feel that you could improve the customer review system? If so, how?
Vote:
Publishing Resources
I started this blog to provide free help with writing, publishing, and marketing. You can find many free articles on publishing and marketing by clicking one of the following links:
Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers
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