online consumer reviews from the consumer perspective

online consumer reviews from the consumer's perspective. Online consumer reviews are often the first way that a consumer will learn about a new product or service. The pros of online consumer reviews include receiving potentially unbiased information about a product or service. The cons of online consumer reviews include their increasing lack of credibility as more companies are resorting to tactics like paying bloggers for positive product reviews, paying writers to write positive Amazon reviews, and the inability to genuinely decipher the difference between a trustworthy and untrustworthy review.

Paid or compensated reviewers are becoming increasingly savvy in their presentation of material. By inserting a few objective or even critical comments amid a sea of positive information about the brand or specific product, the paid reviewer engenders trust and therefore creates an illusion of credibility. The ill informed consumer might be prone to trusting the paid reviewer because of the lack of ability to test the veracity of online consumer reviews.

In spite of the drawbacks of online reviews in terms of the potential for fakes, the benefits of online consumer reviews are tremendous from the customer's perspective. The customer perceives online reviews as they would a review by a trusted friend (Anderson, 2014).

Edelman (2010) also notes, "When consumers are pleased with a purchase, they'll advocate for it by word of mouth, creating fodder for the evaluations of others and invigorating a brand's potential." Interestingly, many consumers only begin to research their product after purchase (Edelman, 2010), meaning that some consumers are looking to verify their experiences with an online community of like-minded individual with the same purchasing interests.

Consumer reviews allow for rapid differentiation between brands, so that the same product can be evaluated on different sites based on specific factors like customer service or convenience. From a consumer's perspective, online reviews offer security. They help guide a decision or reinforce one that has already been made. A consumer review might sway a customer toward one brand and away from another, or it might introduce a customer to a new product or service that might have otherwise gone unaware.

Therefore, the ability of reviewers to introduced new information in their copy or to provide comparison or outlinks is critical from the perspective of the brand manager. Bloggers and other professional product reviewers have the potential to steer consumer tastes in different directions. Consumer reviews also offer the consumer the opportunity to engage with infotainment, to use product reviews as a diversion even if purchasing is not actually the primary objective.

Even when a consumer does not make a purchase, their impression of the brand changes because of positive consumer reviews. As a result, that individual is more likely to recommend the brand even thought they never actually made the purchase themselves -- only because they are spreading the word about something they read about online. Sites that offer reviews only from verified buyers like Booking.com and now Amazon.com offer consumers an added sense of knowing that the information they read is trustworthy.

Of course, brand managers can still manipulate product reviews by compensating reviewers and bloggers for their purchases. Relatively few consumers are going to be media savvy enough to distinguish between a credible and non-credible review, meaning that the majority of consumers will be swayed by a review either positive or negative.

Whether or not the influence of a review ends up being meaningful for their purchasing decisions is irrelevant; consumers need to know what others are thinking about the products and services they are considering especially when those products are high investment options. 2. Discuss the use of online consumer reviews from the brand manager's perspective. One study by Anderson (2014) shows that 88% of survey participants from the United States and Canada have read reviews to determine the quality of a local business.

Almost all consumers (9 out of 10) use online reviews to determine the "quality of a local business" such as a restaurant, meaning that local brand managers need to pay even greater attention to the power of online reviews than large national or multinational companies. The numbers of consumers relying almost primarily on customer reviews has steadily risen too (Anderson, 2014). Therefore, any brand manager needs to understand how to capitalize on the power of online consumer reviews for boosting brand reputation and increasing brand awareness.

A brand manager needs to understand several issues before launching a brand management campaign that focuses on online consumer reviews. Online consumer reviews can be carefully crafted and manipulated by using paid or compensated reviewers, but this practice is frowned upon as "killing consumer confidence," (Weinberg, 2016). According to some studies, "Roughly 16% of restaurant reviews on Yelp are fake, according to a 2013 study. And up to 15% of all online reviews are fake," (Weinberg, 2016). Therefore, brand managers need to consider their online review strategy.

Paying for positive online reviews by offering bloggers free products or services might seem like an attractive short-term solution for gaining brand reputation and awareness, but might backfire if the word gets out that the reviews are fake. At the same time, consumers can be sheep-like, and even fake online reviews can hold a lot of sway in the same way that inadmissible testimony once uttered in a courtroom can sway a jury.

Apparently as many as 95% of consumers do not believe online reviews when they do not see negative scores (Weinberg, 2016). Brand managers have turned to more manipulative methods than even offering fake reviews, such as by infiltrating blogs and forums. Blogs are the most common method of brand management, creating what is essentially infomercial or infotainment for the masses. Unlike genuine user-generated content, blogs that are strategically managed by a brand can be carefully constructed and crafted in ways that showcase a realistic portrait of the brand.

For example, a brand manager might be able to have a sense of humor about the brand and make fun of its negative image in the public eye, while at the same time touting the benefits of that brand vis-a-vis competitors.

As Weinberg (2016) points out, "one of the most difficult aspects of launching a UGC campaign is making sure your customers see it." Visibility should not be a serious impediment for most brand managers working within a company budget that allows for search engine optimization and other tools for increasing online visibility. However, there also needs to be the development of an appearance of objectivity.

When a brand manager wants to use user generated content as with a blog, there is a need to create an illusion of objectivity so that the consumer does not doubt the credibility of the source. This means forming strategic alliances with bloggers but without using bloggers who are clearly motivated only by the lure of receiving free goods in return for product. References Anderson, M. (2014). 88% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations. Retrieved online: http://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803 Edelman, D.C. (2010).

Branding in the Digital Age: You're Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved online: https://hbr.org/2010/12/branding-in-the-digital-age-youre-spending-your-money-in-all-the-wrong-places Weinberg, T. (2016). Are fake online reviews killing consumer confidence? Marketing Land. Retrieved online: http://marketingland.com/fake-online-reviews-killing-consumer-confidence-194239 Module 2: What do you think of the effectiveness of online marketing? How could the firms use online marketing channels to gain competitive advantages? The actual effectiveness of online marketing is hardly debatable.

Even for luxury brands, which have typically lagged behind their counterparts in terms of using online marketing methods, using online marketing is becoming imperative, which is why online marketing is increasing in all sectors and segements ("Luxury Brands Boosting Online Marketing Spend," (2012).

A remarkable 74% of small business owners say "networking online is just as valuable, if not more so, than networking in person," and the same number claim that they have made the greatest gains in new business leads via online channels ("9 in 10 Online Small Businesses Network Online, 8 in 10 Gain New Business," 2012). Therefore, online marketing is effective clearly in boosting brand awareness, reaching a broader target market, and also entrenching the brand in an existing target market for long-term brand loyalty.

Online marketing offers several advantages over other forms of marketing because of the ability of online marketing to actually bridge or fuse other types of marketing methods. For example, social media platforms offer the unique ability for consumers to interact with brands directly as well as communicate their experiences and impressions with brands to the rest of the social media network. This essentially allows brands and marketers to divest themselves of some of the responsibility for viral marketing.

Online marketing means developing trends and following them so that consumers recognize the value of a brand and develop relationships with it that are based on lifestyle, attitudes, and other elements that transcend the basic dimensions of consumer behavior. References "9 in 10 Online Small Businesses Network Online, 8 in 10 Gain New Business," (2012). MarketingProfs. Retrieved online: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/8966/9-in-10-online-small-businesses-network-online-8-in-10-gain-new-business#ixzz28gWpw1hh "Luxury Brands Boosting Online Marketing Spend," (2012). MarketingProfs. Retrieved online: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/8806/luxury-brands-boosting-online-marketing-spend#ixzz28gVdyP98 Module 3 1.

What do you think of Amazon's move to online grocery delivery? Does it give the company a competitive advantage? 2. Identify one of your favorite grocery stores. What attracts you to it? Can you think of anything the store has done to draw your patronage and stop you from buying online? Is there anything further they could do to retain your loyalty? 1. Amazon has recently been diversifying not its portfolio but its business and marketing strategies.

Instead of relying only on online business, Amazon is essentially doing the reverse of what many major firms have had to do, which is establish a brick-and-mortar presence and provide new services like Amazon Fresh. Amazon Fresh represents the firm's ability to anticipate changes to the consumer marketplace and take advantage of consumer trends in how people go about their actual shopping experiences.

With more and more people using Amazon and other major online retailers to buy diverse products, it makes sense that Amazon would also consider attempting to become the market leader in grocery provisions. Grocery provisions online are nothing new. However, there is a reason why online grocery sales do not typically do exceptionally well. One reason is that produce is difficult to sell and deliver online. Perishable items require same-day or at least next-day delivery -- something that is not cost-effective for most consumers.

The reason why Amazon might have an edge up on the competition is that they can specialize in packaged goods, selling a wider variety of packaged goods for a much lower cost than competitors. WholeFoods and other retailers have lagged behind in the online grocery division because they have been unable to make the supply chain that Amazon has work for them. 2. One of my favorite grocery stores is WholeFoods, even though I have a love-hate relationship with it. I am drawn to WholeFoods because of their quality of produce.

I would not purchase from them online or from anyone else because I prefer to see my produce and do not trust other people.