Why user-generated reviews matter in online retail

 

Earlier this month, eMarketer wrote about a study conducted by The e-tailing group and Power Reviews that again underlined the fact that a big chunk of Internet users research online before making any type of purchase.

They hold the opinion that conducting their own research online saves their time and makes them confident about their purchases. You probably knew that. Confidence, peer-to-peer, user reviews, influence, social media, trust, online media and information gathering prior to actual purchase are closely related.

The study also found that the sites of retailers play a critical role in the research phase of the buying journey of “consumers”. Now, isn’t that great news?

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The fans are finally dead (and some free social media marketing advice for Facebook and Twitter)

Fans become people who likeOne small post before I call it a day.

The people at Facebook have done what they promised to do a while ago: when going to the Facebook page of my blog, I noticed that the traditional “x fans” has been replaced by “x people like this”.

I would have said “x people like this page”, to be that bit more precise. However, that’s a detail. I’m glad they finally got rid of the word fans.

Maybe many of you will find this stupid but to me, it matters. I never liked the word fans, and I explained why earlier in some posts. Being a fan of someone or something always brings to mind the image of a crowd cheering their favorite whatever (which reminds me that one day I’ll explain why I don’t like the word crowdsourcing either, I’m picky, I know, but words matter more than many can imagine).

The word fans expresses an inequality for me and that’s exactly what I don’t like (have to admit I don’t like celebrity stuff that much either, as my aunt used to say “we all have to go to the bathroom now and then”).

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