Online reviews are an important tool that helps consumers decide regarding a purchase of a product or a service. Today, more than ever, digital reviews are everywhere and it seems that most of the consumers read online reviews before making a purchase decision. According to BrightLocal survey, 91% of US consumers ‘regularly’ or ‘occasionally’ read online reviews. Online reviews also increase trust in a business, as long as the reviews are positive: 74% of customers say that a positive review makes them trust a business more, while 60% say a negative review makes them question the quality of a business. Usually consumers will stop looking for another business after having read positive reviews. Online reviews are used for various types of businesses. Restaurant / café is the most common segment in which people use online reviews before deciding, with 60% of consumers saying that they had read online reviews for this segment. Hospitality comes next, with 40%, and Medical / healthcare comes third with 31%. According to Schieber Research, these numbers are expected to rise significantly for every industry with the integration of reviews into search engines and with companies increasingly encouraging consumer to write reviews, it would be almost impossible to make a decision without reading reviews first.

1. Online Reviews - Trends,
Innovations, Strategy
Meital Yachin | March, 2017

2. Introduction
• Online reviews are an important tool that helps consumers make a
decision regarding a purchase of a product or a service.
• Today, more than ever, digital reviews are everywhere. It’s a powerful
tool that extends rapidly and reaches diverse industries. It no longer
serves only local businesses to help consumers decide which
restaurant to visit or which computer to buy: online reviews can affect
any business critically and determine if it lives or dies.
• This presentation reviews trends, innovations and competitor
strategies aimed at leveraging positive reviews, respond to
negative reviews and ensure authenticity of reviews.

3. Key trends
Trends Best in Class Strategy
Platforms Brands realize the importance of reviews across
the shopper’s journey and develop a strategy for
reputation and reviews management, to be
implemented on search engines (esp. Google –
but also Amazon, becoming a recommendation-
oriented search engine), social media, professional
websites and blogs, in addition to the company
website and review sites.
Integrating consumer reviews into the websites;
encouraging consumers to add reviews, including
by asking them a specific question; responding to
reviews
Reviewers Although reviews are now available anywhere for
free, it seems that the problem of authenticity is
driving demand for reviews that are written by
professionals, even if a fee is involved – indicating
potential for verifiable reviews websites.
Influencers and blogger reviews; displaying
reviews that were originally written for third party
website on the company's website
Content In addition to the widely accepted methods of
points / stars ranking and additional written text,
Video content is now on the rise, especially when it
comes to in-store/ on the go/ mobile content
consumption.
Combining video reviews, whether independent or
brand initiated, with an emphasis on mobile
availability.
Industries While travel and hospitality (including hotels and
airlines, cafés and restaurants), are still the top
segment in which people use online reviews before
making a decision, the incorporation of reviews
into various sources and search engines will soon
affect every product/ service industry.
Brands should design a strategy to leverage
positive reviews and response to negative reviews,
in any industry.
A new trend is “two-way review" - even consumers
themselves become the object of opinion and
ratings.
Source: Schieber Research, 2017

4. Table of Contents
Statistics
Platforms
Strategies

5. Table of Contents
Statistics
Platforms
Strategies

6. The importance of reviews
• A recent BrightLocal survey found
that 91% of consumers ‘regularly’
or ‘occasionally’ read online
reviews.
• 74% of customers say a positive
review makes them trust a business
more, while 60% say a negative
review makes them question the
quality of a business.
“Local Consumer Review Survey”,
BrightLocal 2016
• Only 3% of consumers will keep
searching for another business after
reading positive reviews, while 80%
will continue the process with the
business they found.

7. The importance of reviews
“Connected Consumer Goods Report” Salesforce Research report, 2016
• A Salesforce 2016
report demonstrates that
online reviews are
considered as the most
effective, trusted method
for consumers to gather
information on brands
and products prior to
making a purchase
decision; especially
among Millennials (18 –
34).

8. Brand Reviews Across Industries
• According to BrightLocal, online reviews
are used for various types of businesses.
Restaurant / café is the most common
segment in which people use online
reviews before making a decision, with
60% of consumers saying that they had
read online reviews for this segment.
Hospitality comes next, with 40%, and
Medical / healthcare comes third with
31%.
“Local Consumer Review Survey”, BrightLocal 2016
• According to Schieber Research, these numbers are expected to rise
significantly for every industry: with the integration of reviews into search
engines and with companies increasingly encouraging consumer to write
reviews, it would be almost impossible to make a decision without reading
reviews first.

9. Brand Reviews Across Industries | Travel
• According to TripBarometer Report, two of the top five factors impacting
accommodation decision are online reviews displayed on review sites and on
TripAdvisor.
Global Travel Economy Report , TripBarometer, 2015

10. Brand Reviews Across Industries | Travel
• Travelers tend to rely on reviews and opinions from other travelers when
researching and booking their trip.
• TripAdvisor is more influential than other source when choosing destination
and accommodation.
Global Travel Economy Report , TripBarometer, 2015

11. Brand Reviews Across Industries | Travel
According to TRUSTYOU survey:
• 95% of travelers read reviews before booking a hotel.
• Leisure travelers read an average of 6-7 reviews before booking a
hotel.
• Travelers spend an average of 30 minutes reading reviews before
booking. 10% of travelers spend more than one hour reading reviews
• According to another study by the company, there is a 3.9 greater
chance travelers will choose hotel with higher review score, when
prices are the same. Moreover, travelers will often choose a more
expensive hotel if the reviews are better.
Consumer Research Identifies How To Present Travel Review Content For Optimal Bookings, TRUSTYOU, 2015

12. Star rating
• According to Yotpo study, higher
reviews have a positive influence upon
products purchase. The study found that
94% of all purchases are made for
products with an average rating of 4
stars and above, of which 54% of the
purchases are of products rated 5 stars
and products rated 4-stars represent
40% of the purchases.
• There were 126% more orders for
products with an average of 5 stars than
those with an average of 4 stars.
• In addition, consumers tend to review
products that are ranked higher – 60%
of reviews were written for products with
an average rating of 5 stars, suggesting
high satisfaction motive ranking (when
the brand exceeds expectations).
How Star Ratings Influence Customers’ Behavior, Yotpo, 2015

13. Social media as an important source of reviews
• Yotpo research have found
that businesses which share
reviews to social media, enjoy
a higher conversion rate
compared to those that don’t
share.

14. Mobile Reviews
• The percentage of
consumers reading
online reviews via mobile
web (61%) is significantly
higher than consumers
using mobile apps (18%).
BrightLocal found a drop
of 6% in reading online
reviews via mobile app,
compared to 2015.
“Local Consumer Review Survey”, BrightLocal 2016

15. Table of Contents
Statistics
Platforms
Strategies

16. Reviews platforms
Reviews can be either company initiated, consumer initiated or 3rd party
initiated, and they include influencer/ expert sites, social media, brand
websites/ social media, and search engines.
Review
initiated by
the
company
The
company’s
website,
campaigns,
search engine
etc.
Social
media
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram etc.
Video Review
is rising and
YouTube in
particular.
influencers
Dedicated sites
that provide
reviews from
influences or
professional
(e.g CNET,
Blogs)
3rd party
• Search
engines
• Industry-
specific
directory sites
• Paid review
sites

17. Company’s website
Levi's, who is growing its e-commerce platform, provides consumer reviews of
the different models.

18. Social Media | Facebook
• Facebook leads the social media’s reviews
market. The review is being displayed
prominently on the Facebook business page
and consists of stars rank and a written
review. Each user can rank or review (this
way the user’s Facebook’s friends see the
review as well) and the business owner
cannot delete or edit.
• Facebook recently launched a tool that
allows users to discover new events or
services, based on friend recommendations.
After writing a post asking for a
recommendation, Facebook changes it to a
‘recommendation’. As soon as other users
react to the post, Facebook recognizes the
business and displays it on a map, as well
as its rank and reviews. There is also an
option to attach a business proactively.

19. Social Media | Facebook
• Facebook allows a ‘near by’
search for places. For
instance, users can find
hotels near their current
location. Results include
rank and reviews and there
is also a link to the business
page and a shortcut for
making a reservation.

20. Social Media | YouTube
• The popularity of video led to a new type of review - filmed reviews.
• According to Google Think, YouTube has become a top source for reviews,
specially among millennials: 50% of this generation say they are
examining products reviews from the store at the time of purchase,
when YouTube is the primary source for them.
• There are companies that embed the videos in their websites, in order to
assist consumers in making purchase decisions and increase the conversion
rate.
Food Review is a website that provides
food reviews in a YouTube videos.
Cadbury, a chocolate milk company,
embeds reviews of their product in their
website. Watch a video

21. Influencers
• Among professional websites and opinions
of consumers, there are "super consumers"
- influencers who are bloggers and experts
who write reviews.
The more impact a blogger has, the more the reviews will be
noticeable on searches.
CNET tracks the latest technologies and
provides information, tools, and advice
to consumers, which help them decide
prior to a purchase using reviews.
Ziff Davis delivers independent reviews in
the gaming, technology and men’s
lifestyle categories.

22. Professional Review Websites
• Despite the vast availability of free reviews, consumers are willing to pay for
expert-written reports written by professionals. Therefore, Schieber
Research concludes that the need for authentic reviews is crucial, and
inability to verify reviews might impair the future of online reviews.
WHICH? Is an independent consumer review website that tests, describes and reviews products.
The reviews are being written by the Which? Team (rather than consumers) and Which undertakes
consumer surveys on products and services.
The service includes a membership fee (£10.75 per month). There are 70,000 current members to
Which?.

23. Directory Websites
Yelp is a website that provides Local
business ranking and reviews. The website
also offers online food delivery.
TripAdvisor is a website that provides
reviews in the travel industry, including
Hotels, flights and restaurants.
• Directory sites provide reviews on local businesses and are industry-specific. The
emphasis is on personalization – linked to social media profiles to display friends’
reviews and recommendations based on previous searches, as well as promote
sharing on social networks.

24. Search Engines
• ‫מנ‬
Yahoo.com
Google.com
• Search engines are the preferred method for
finding online reviews - 63% of consumers
surveyed said they turn to a search engine,
like Google, to find online reviews of local
businesses.
“Local Consumer Review Survey”, BrightLocal 2016

25. Search Engines | Google
• Google moved to displaying reviews through
the search engine. Combined with YouTube,
Google’s influence on the online reviews
market is enormous.
Google partnered with
OpenTable and Facebook to
display reviews from multiple
sites so the consumer gets an
extensive review before making
a decision.
Google “local pack” –
Google displays three
highlighted Maps-based
results featuring the most
highly ranked businesses;
This is in line with the
trend of searching ‘nearby’
places.

26. Search Engines | Google
• Google combines reviews in Google maps.
An example of a ‘laundry service’ search using google maps. The search shows
relevant businesses near the current location. Standing with the mouse on top of a
business presents its rank and users can read all reviews and even sort them by
categories, such as: ‘Most helpful’, ‘Most recent’, ‘Highest score’, ‘Lowest score’

27. Table of Contents
Statistics
Platform
Strategies

28. Encourage Reviews on Company Websites
• Incorporating reviews into
companies’ websites is important for
search engine optimization and for
driving traffic at the research phase
of the buying journey.
• While positive reviews on the
website obviously supports brands,
some marketers fear the effect of a
negative review. However, it’s
important to remembered that
providing consumer a platform to
respond is an action that positions
the company as transparent and
responsible and allows the company
respond to any review. Failure to
provide such platform will just result
in posting the reviews somewhere
else.
Pret A Manger, a worldwide coffee shop chain,
encourages consumers to write reviews by presenting
reviews on the main internet page.

29. Encouraging Consumer Reviews
ClassPass, an American fitness
startup that provides fitness service in
multiple studios, uses in-app
prompting to invite customers to
review classes. It offers frequently
used options to make the process
easier and less time consuming.
The quantity and the quality of the reviews effect SEO. Hence, It is important for
companies to provide a convenient platform to encourage customers to review a service /
product. In addition to creating a mass of reviews, encouraging customers to review
allows brands to get a feedback and to create a relationship with the buyer after the
purchase.
Expedia encourages customers to
review their trip by sending an
email post trip.
Seamless, an online food ordering
service, sends customers a text
massage following the delivery, in
order to encourage them to review
the service.

30. Encouraging Consumer Reviews
• Some companies encourage consumer to review by offering them incentives
– however, this practice is, in some circumstances, viewed as unethical and
there are sites that prohibit this type of review. Another method is using
dedicated review tools, based on free trial service product, as the reviewer
has to review the product he/she received for free and state that it was
submitted free of charge.
BzzAgent offers free products to
consumers who will review the product; it
is a B2B website – meaning that
companies use the service to collect
reviews on new products.
Amazon, the company that built the review
field, founded in 2007 the Vine – a program
that allows consumers to get free products,
and in exchange they have to review them.
Participation in the program is by invitation
only and based on previous rank reviews.

31. Encouraging Consumer Reviews
• Some websites encourages consumers to review by sending the customer an email
that contains a specific question, after the purchase.
Amazon

32. Personalization
• Many companies are focused on personalization which allows consumer to read
reviews from consumer who are similar to them, or according to their social
network.
Trip.com displays reviews by
categories: Foodies, Vegetarians,
Adventure Traveler, Family travelers
TripAdvisor allows consumer to refine reviews by
travel type, e.g., families or couples.

33. Real Time Feedback
• Mobile tools prompt users to write a review as soon as they receive a
product / service; this is notable in the hospitality market, giving hotels a
chance to repair the damage and avoid a negative rating.
Expedia encourages customers to answer a
satisfaction survey upon arrival to the hotel,
via their mobile phone. This gives the hotel
an opportunity to fix what’s wrong or
compensate the customer, instead of having
an eve-lingering bad review.

34. Two-Way Reviews
• Schieber Research recognizes a trend of a two-way review, which means –
businesses can rate customers. For example, Airbnb’s hosts have an option to rate
guests and Uber/Lyft Drivers can rate passengers and even ban a passenger.
An example for Airbnb’s
bi-directional review. A
guest can read the
review only if he/she
posts a review back –
encourages the customer
to review.

35. Responding to Negative Reviews
• A negative review provides marketers with a chance to fix any wrongdoing in order to
prevent future complaints, and maybe even turn opponents to proponents.
• Google My Business advises not to get personal when responding to negative
reviews; to reply briefly and politely; to thank the writer for taking the time to review the
business; and to “be a friend, not a sales person”.
• As more companies understand that reviews will be available online “forever” – they
respond to consumers more and more. TripAdvisor provides many such examples.

36. Thank You!
The research was conducted by: Meital Yachin
Schieber Research | Market Research & Competitive Intelligence
www.researchci.com | hamutal@researchci.com
More articles and researches on Carmelon Digital
Marketing website:
http://www.carmelon-digital.com