Are All Online Reviews True?

According to the consumers’ survey around 72 % of consumers fully trust online reviews and 52 % feel that positive online reviews make them more likely use particular service or product offered. As the world goes more digital, companies seem to adopt any practices whether they are fair or unfair to get more customers. If a while ago, professionals in particular aspects were given the responsibility to write reviews on different kinds of products, today many companies give access to anyone who is willing. But the question is – do the consumers’ reviews that we read always belong to consumers or not?
In March 2011, Legacy Learning Systems Inc. , producer of guitar-lessons DVDs was sued to pay $250,000 for paying marketers that would write some positive reviews about their products in the names of their customers. In 2013 New York companies have been investigated on the practice of writing false reviews. Along the investigation, 19 companies have been caught for being unfair to their customers and sued for paying a total of $350,000 in penalties. Among the companies were teeth-whitening service, night club and charter bus operator.
The investigation exposed a number of businesses such as dentistry, lawyer firms and ultrasound clinics posting false reviews about their services. The matter is that a customer being deceived by the positive untrue comments may get some significant damage from unprofessional and low-quality service provided by the company. If it is a night club, the biggest that the false review will lead to is disappointment, but if it is an ultrasound clinic the consequences may be too damaging.
The investigation also found about different practices that companies adopt in order to persuade their customers in high quality of their product. While some companies hire online marketers to write well-thought and promising reviews, others choose to bribe their customers with 50 $ gift cards in exchange for a positive review of their product.
Positive reviews significantly contribute to the reputation of the company. Fifty or more reviews on a product can mean 4-5 % increase in conversion rate. But now because many companies have been caught with giving false reviews and particular laws have been reinforced, the only thing that is useful to do is to maintain excellent customer service what will always lead to true positive reviews, good reputation of the company and high conversion rate.