While the Consumer Review Fairness Act does not prohibit companies from posting inappropriate content, it does contain some specific rules. While it is unlikely that any disagreement between a consumer and a company will meet the ӣlearly false or misleadingԠstandard, there are steps that companies can take to protect themselves from inappropriate content. The act outlines specific penalties for companies that violate its terms. Below, weҬl discuss the laws around posting consumer reviews on a companyҳ website. Review profiles To get more reviews on your website, you can start a business profile on various review sites. Some of these directories are Yelp, Yahoo!, and Bing, which are essential for local SEO. While organically building stellar review profiles can be done without paying a cent, there are pitfalls to avoid. Google algorithms can identify a single IP address that posts multiple reviews, and this can cause suspicion. Itҳ important to keep this in mind as you go about building a stellar profile. There are a number of different factors that determine how often people read online reviews, including household income. Those earning over $80K are more likely to read reviews than those making $40K-$80K. Households with children are more likely to read reviews than those without children. This indicates that consumer reviews can make or break a business. A review profile can help improve sales, improve customer service, and generate referrals. A high-quality review profile is crucial for credibility. Google is penalizing businesses that try to pay people to leave positive reviews. Using the Google Local Guides to write reviews can help. They carry a considerable amount of weight with Google and other users. However, developing a good review profile is rarely the responsibility of a single person. Ideally, a whole team should contribute to the process and be taught about the reputation management policy. Consumer review profiles are an essential component of small business SEO and should be a key part of your overall marketing strategy. Although positive reviews are a great thing, negative reviews can reflect badly on your business and the people behind them. To get the most out of them, be respectful of your reviewers and ask for more detailed feedback. Once youҶe built a solid foundation for your profile, you can move on to more advanced tactics, such as social media and email campaigns. Google Business Reviews is a powerful tool to build a strong brand image and improve your domain authority. These reviews can come from past and current consumers, employees, media relationships, and peers. Reviews about healthcare services are particularly important because many individuals use the internet to find out if their providers are legitimate. However, fake reviews are common and can affect your businessҳ SEO strategy. Therefore, itҳ crucial to post a genuine review. Influence of recent reviews Recent consumer reviews have the potential to influence a consumerҳ buying decisions. According to a study by Dimensional Research, 90% of consumers say they have read reviews online and 86% said that a review had influenced their decision to purchase a product. Although most of the negative reviews are posted on popular review sites, positive reviews are more likely to be posted on social media, such as Facebook, where nearly half of all reviews come from. Studies show that disconfirmation compels consumers to write longer reviews compared to consumers who have not read reviews before. Furthermore, negative disconfirmation appears to have stronger effects than positive disconfirmation. Moreover, the influence of previous average review ratings on subsequent consumers is explored in Study 3, as well as the factors affecting conformity and differentiation behavior. Results indicate that prior average review ratings exert positive influence on subsequent consumers, although their effects are mitigated by the variance of existing reviews. The findings also demonstrate that attentional bias is an important element in online consumer behavior. This effect is particularly apparent among female consumers. Female consumers are more likely to pay attention to negative comments, and practitioners should consider this when preparing product or service information. This study may have important implications for the future of marketing. So, how can recent consumer reviews influence your business? There are a few ways you can use this information. The first step is to customize the information you provide to consumers. Influence of owner reviews Consumers can gain valuable insight about a product through owner reviews. These reviews are usually descriptive and provide personal experiences with the product. As such, they can help other consumers make informed decisions. Although consumer reviews are not scientifically valid, they do have an impact on the purchasing decision process. The following are some factors that may influence consumer reviews: Online review pandemics have drastically altered consumer behavior. A recent study by Dimensional Research surveyed over 1,046 consumers in the US. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said that online reviews had influenced their buying decisions. Among those who recalled reading reviews online, 86% reported that negative reviews influenced their purchasing decision. Moreover, negative reviews were most commonly found on major review sites, while positive reviews were most prevalent in social media, with 44% coming from Facebook. The findings revealed that consumersҠattentional biases are associated with negative comments. This is a necessary part of the theory of online consumer behavior. Female consumers, for example, pay greater attention to negative reviews than male consumers. Hence, practitioners should pay special attention to negative comments. When creating an online review page, practitioners should tailor product and service information to appeal to both male and female consumers. It is important to remember that consumersҠattentional biases influence their purchase decision. Another important factor that may influence the impact of negative reviews is the type of reviews. Affect-rich reviews may be positive or negative, but they have a greater impact on consumer buying decisions than baseline reviews. Consumers may believe that positive reviews are more reliable than negative ones. Therefore, the effect of negative reviews on sales and consumer reviews is not as strong as previously thought. It is important to remember that consumers invest considerable effort into ensuring they make informed buying decisions. Influence of UGC Consumers trust the opinions of friends and other members of the public when it comes to purchasing products online, and this includes product ratings. Online ratings, or reviews, have the highest level of credibility, which means consumers are more likely to spend more on a product that receives positive feedback. According to a recent survey, 90 percent of consumers say UGC influences their purchases, and 53 percent rated it extremely influential. In addition to improving customer feedback, UGC also improves consumer confidence when making purchases online. Survey respondents also said that UGC improves the authenticity of their shopping experiences, and that they would be more likely to purchase a product if it contained positive feedback than if it came from a brand. Although it is hard to see a product in person, shoppers online want to know how it would fit someone of a similar body shape. They also want to know if a certain shade of lipstick will look nice on someone with similar skin tone. Similarly, online shoppers want to know whether a couch will fit into their living room. User-generated content can provide this information, as it provides a third-party perspective that allows these products to come to life for consumers. As the number of consumers who read reviews online increases, brands need to consider using UGC to improve their reputation. Consumers trust other peopleҳ opinions, so showcasing social proof on a brandҳ website makes it more credible. Additionally, younger consumers rely on UGC more than older generations, and they will soon be the largest group of buyers. They trust consumer opinions over brand-generated content, which can help brands improve their reputation and attract new customers. The influence of UGC is a powerful marketing strategy. A survey showed that over half of Millennials had purchased a product or service based on the brandҳ UGC. UGC is not passive content; consumers actively share positive experiences with brands through social media. In fact, 52 percent of consumers share at least one product or brand on a monthly basis. They are also more likely to share positive experiences when they have a firsthand experience with a product. The postHow Consumer Reviews Can Influence a Consumer's Buying Decisions appeared first onSMB Place.