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October 30, 2007
Fakers are bad for business
People hate fakers when it comes to buying stuff. In fact, more than half of the people asked for a recent survey said they avoid buying from a company if they even suspect a paid professional is secretly behind the review of a typical, everyday person.
This comes from PR firm Burson-Marsteller and its new study about "e-fluentials," people who are more likely to share their opinions and experiences with others because they typically speak with 50% more people than the average person every day. About 30% of the survey's respondents said fake reviews are a big problem, compared with 20% in 2001. That rise in concern largely mirrors the findings of a recent Nielsen study.
To keep momentum building for user-generated content sites, at least two things should happen pretty quickly:
- Opinion sites must dramatically improve vetting systems for reviewers. Amazon set the standard a few years ago with its Real Name functionality. It's time for the biggies like Yelp, Trip Advisor, and CitySearch to step up.
- Companies of any size, in any industry, must understand that giving yourself glowing reviews using fake names (or hiring or encouraging others to create fake reviews) is not only unethical but bad for business. The amateur Internet detectives always find out. Of course, they're not shy about sharing their findings.
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Hmmm..experience of companies like Sony Erricson and Bose corporation seem to suggest otherwise...
Ive came across a couple of reviews where you can just tell that it was written by an imposter. I think its up to the reader to decide. Good post.
