Online Reviews and Offline Purchases

The Kelsey Group and comScore Networks released a study on in the impact of online user reviews on offline purchases of services.  They looked specifically at the impact of online consumer generated reviews on offline purchases related to restaurants, hotels, travel, legal, medical, automotive and home services. 

The research shows that for these categories online reviews are very infuential in off line purchases.  Key data points from the study press release (these are direct quotes):

• Nearly one out of every four Internet users (24 percent) reported using online reviews prior to paying for a service delivered offline.
• More than three-quarters of review users in nearly every category reported that the review had a significant influence on their purchase, with hotels ranking the highest (87 percent).
• Ninety-seven percent of those surveyed who said they made a purchase based on an online review said they found the review to have been accurate.
• Review users also noted that reviews generated by fellow consumers had a greater influence than those generated by professionals.

We've posted in the past on the growing importance of online user reviews on small business.  This study shows this trend is becoming even more pronounced and important. 

Comments

[Marc Karasu]

Great article

Could not agree more

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They can also download our free "pledge" icon to show consumers they are committed to customer service.