Creating an active consumer review presence is an essential part of any marketing plan. A single negative review can be devastating to a business, but creating an active presence has benefits in the long run. If you have a business, it is imperative to fight for a half-star rating. Luckily, there are some tips and tools that can help you leverage consumer reviews for your business. Listed below are some of the most effective ways to leverage your online consumer reviews. Positive reviews increase purchase intent According to research, consumers are more likely to purchase from companies with positive consumer reviews. Displaying these reviews on your website gives potential customers more confidence and reduces their doubts. This ultimately increases brand credibility and reliability, resulting in more sales. Negative reviews on websites are one of the most common causes of hesitation to do business with a company. Using customer reviews to boost your brandҳ reputation and increase purchase intent can increase your sales dramatically. Both positive and negative consumer reviews influence the purchase intentions of consumers. The positive reviews have a greater impact on purchase intent than the negative ones. However, the extent to which they influence purchase decisions varies depending on the number of reviews, the reviewerҳ experience with the product, and the risk-aversion of the consumer. Positive reviews are more influential when the number of reviews is greater. However, negative reviews have greater judgment value, which may explain why they reduce purchase intent. A recent study found that both young and old adults were influenced by the valence and understanding of consumer reviews. They tended to choose the higher-rated product even if the two options were similar. However, when only one review was presented, a sizable minority of participants chose the lower-rated option. Positive reviews, on the other hand, increase purchase intent by up to 5%. The results show that consumer reviews may influence purchase decisions, especially among young adults. Another study found that consumersҠattitudes towards figurative reviews were associated with higher purchase intent. Although literal reviews influenced the purchase intent of consumers more, figurative reviews were more effective in increasing it. In addition, the language style of online reviews influences purchase intentions. A good match between online language style and product type has a positive effect on purchase intent. Social presence also plays a role. It is a study worth studying, but future studies should include both literal and figurative reviews in their research. In contrast to positive reviews, negative reviews are more influential for older adults. Moreover, older adults were highly influenced by a negative review, despite the productҳ favorable attributes. Therefore, positive reviews are not necessary for convincing older adults. If the reviews are positive, older adults may not be convinced by them. However, if the reviews are negative, they are less likely to buy the product. Therefore, if your product is getting positive reviews on social media, make sure to post it on your website. Negative reviews decrease purchase intent Consumers read online consumer reviews to determine whether to buy a product or service. Negative reviews have a significant impact on purchase intent and purchase behavior, and they are also an excellent source of promising data. However, there is a key difference between these two types of reviews: their impact on purchase intent depends on the perceived risk. In this article, we discuss how online consumer reviews can influence purchase intent and the risk perception of consumers. Online consumer reviews directly affect purchasing behavior by reducing uncertainty and risk for online consumers. Negative information is more likely to get attention, so negative reviews have an adverse impact on purchase behavior. These reviews are considered as substitutes for actual purchase behaviors, and are assumed to reflect a personҳ willingness to perform the behavior. Hence, negative reviews may reduce purchase intent. The research findings support the theory that consumersҠpurchase intentions are influenced by the psychological environment in which they are conducted. A growing number of researchers have explored the relationship between positive and negative online reviews and purchase intentions. The study shows that positive online reviews increase purchase intentions, while negative consumer reviews decrease them. The quantity of positive and negative reviews also affects purchase intention. This suggests that consumers observe the ratio between positive and negative reviews and the proportion of each. A higher proportion of positive reviews increases purchase intent. Further, positive consumer reviews increase purchase intent. This study suggests that negative online reviews are important information sources. The effects of negative consumer reviews on a retailerҳ reputation vary. Consumers who know the retailer well are less likely to trust the negative information, regardless of whether the review is genuine or not. While familiarity reduces the effect of negative WOM information, unfamiliarity makes it more likely that consumers will find more negative reviews and believe problems will happen again. This is particularly true for branded products and services. So, while negative reviews reduce purchase intent, positive reviews do not. Providing consumers with a venue to express their views has become a business for some companies. These companies may pay consumers for their contributions, while others use consumer reviews to compete for attention and visit. Some reports indicate that consumers read and listen to these reviews. In addition, they may also consider whether a negative review affects their own evaluations and patronage intentions. But the research also has other implications. In the future, the use of WWW reviews is likely to influence the future behavior of retailers. Companies that offer incentives to generate reviews Incentives for consumer reviews have two major effects. First, they increase the number of reviews a company receives. Second, they make consumers more likely to leave a positive review of a companyҳ product. These results are important because 93% of U.S. adults read reviews before buying a product online. However, there is one catch: incentives can be used to hide scandals and to promote bad press. Nevertheless, these incentives can also help improve the overall quality of consumer reviews. Companies that offer incentives to generate consumer reviews must follow Googleҳ rules to avoid being caught in the process of detecting fake reviews. However, if your business is not careful, it can get away with it and lose legitimate reviews. A simple solution is to offer a percentage off a next purchase. Incentives can be as simple as free samples or loyalty points to entice consumers to leave a review. Incentives can also be as simple as in-store kiosks or other methods to get more Google reviews. One study showed that companies that offered incentives to generate positive reviews received 40 percent more than those without incentives. Although it is possible to make a companyҳ review-generating process more enjoyable, there is no guarantee that consumers will write only positive reviews. And, of course, no one wants to read reviews that are critical of their company. Therefore, it is vital that companies that offer incentives to generate positive reviews keep this in mind. The use of incentives to encourage people to write reviews is a legitimate way to boost their rankings on search engines. Consumers rely on online reviews to help them decide whether or not to buy a product. It is essential to trust that reviews are authentic, but there are cases where companies misuse this trust by writing fake reviews or paying independent websites for good rankings. Those practices not only damage consumers, they also hurt the businesses that are honest. Tools for leveraging them A good VoC reporting tool will let you monitor reviews based on content themes. For example, one popular technique for VoC reporting is natural language processing (NLP), which automatically groups reviews based on common topics. Other tools allow users to create their own themes to track specific content. A review-management tool should have the ability to provide insights on the sentiment and mindset of your customers. In addition, it should provide you with tools to measure and improve your overall customer experience. Marketing tools are essential for leveraging customer feedback. A good tool helps you gather, organize, and distribute the feedback. Revleap is one such tool. By using this tool, you can increase the number of reviews, referrals, and repeat purchases while streamlining communication. And you donҴ need to use annoying taglines to promote your product or service. This way, youҬl avoid the need to send your customer surveys over again. User-generated content is highly valuable in the digital age. Many online reviews are more credible than traditional content. A majority of consumers trust online reviews as much as other forms of advertising. In fact, 84 percent of consumers trust online reviews over other forms of advertising. Another significant advantage is that user-generated content typically enjoys higher engagement rates than other content marketing. That means that if you have positive feedback from your customers, youҲe on the right track to increasing your businessҳ visibility and gaining more clients. Leveraging consumer reviews is crucial for businesses to stay competitive. Review websites allow you to analyze the content and look for themes and patterns in the complaints and concerns posted by your customers. While negative feedback can be hard to swallow, you can take these as opportunities to improve your business. Ultimately, leveraging consumer reviews helps you retain customers and boost revenue. So, if you have a consumer-facing product, make sure to include it in your online marketing strategy. The postHow to Leverage Consumer Reviews for Your Business appeared first onSMB Place.