The Science of Writing Impactful Online Reviews

Try to remember the last time when you purchased something from an online platform. Recall how you made the purchase decision and try to answer the following 3 questions:

· Did you go through all the provided information and still ended up getting confused?

· Did you go through at least one review of the product, trying to understand the experience of fellow customers?

· Did going through reviews reduce your confusion and made you change your decision the slightest?

If your answers to the above questions were “Yes”, then at some point of life you would have also written a review about a purchase you made. Maybe to vent out your emotions regarding the purchase, or purely aimed at helping future customers.

But, did your review really made an impact? Most products are already flooded with huge volume of reviews and without these considerations, your review may fail to provide the information future customers are looking for.

Through this article, we will understand some key points that can make your review more impactful and greatly increase its helpfulness. Pictorial examples from amazon of the product “4 Pack ice pack by Fit & Fresh” has been included after each point to ensure ease of understanding.

Rapid growth in ecommerce has led us to its adoption for different types of product purchases. As per Statista, global e-commerce marketing is expected to grow to $3.88 trillion by 2026. Research reveals that 91% of customers go through at least one online review before making their purchase decision. But due to the high volume of reviews, it is nearly impossible for a review reader to go through all the reviews, understand, analyze, remember and summarize the content of all the reviews. Therefore, to make sure that your review really makes an impact and helps someone, you must keep in mind the following points before writing your next product review.

1. Review Language: Language is the first barrier to reading a review. In order to make sure the review is readable and understandable by the review readers, a universal language should be adopted while writing the review. For specific regional platforms, regional language may be used which is understood well by the customers of that particular platform.

For example:

Other language vs English Review

2. Review Length: Most review readers go through only a handful reviews before making their purchase decision. It is difficult for the readers to read and analyse very lengthy reviews. However, writing a too short review can also prove to be detrimental suggesting poor information and review quality, which may not adequately cover all the major aspects the review reader is expecting. The length of the review may depend upon the complexity and type of product, but it is strongly recommended to keep it crisp and concise.

For example:

Too Short Review

Appropriate Length Review

3. Writing style: A review can be written in paragraph style or point wise. Too many points affect the readability of the review, while a long paragraph has the risk of becoming monotonous. Writing in small points headed by an introduction and a summarised conclusion appropriately engages the reader’s attention.

For Example:

Paragraph Style Review

Points Made as per Themes

4. Review informativeness: One of the most important aspects to consider in writing a helpful and insightful review is informativeness. Prospective customers refer to online reviews to reduce ambiguity in their decision-making process. Hence, a review covering the important attributes and features of the product including their experience with the product boots the helpfulness greatly.

For Example:

Review with Very Low Information

Informative Review

5. Review timing: A review can be provided either immediately or after a period of usage of the product. Posting a review immediately can vividly highlight and reflect the delivery and packaging of the product. However, posting the review after a period of usage can generate more insightful in-depth knowledge about the features and attributes of the product reflecting the long-term ownership experience of the product along with delivery and packaging themes.

For Example:

Immediate Posted Review

Review Posted After Product Usage

6. Review Extremity: Existing academic literature has shown that reviews showing exceptional positive or negative experiences tend to grab more attention than vague ones. Further, readers expect to know the real experiences the existing customers have with the product. Therefore, regardless of the extremity, it is strongly recommended to provide your genuine experience on your purchase.

For Example:

Review Highlighting Mixed Experience

Review Highlighting Positive Experience

7. Emotions: Human beings being social animals thrive on emotions. However, during the reading of online reviews, readers also look for factual information instead of just pure venting of emotions. Therefore, it is recommended to blend in subtle emotions along with prime focus on factual information in the review.

For Example:

Review High in Emotion and Low in Factual Information

Review with Balanced Emotion and Factual Information

8. Visuals: Many online retail platforms support uploading of visual information — videos and images along with text for online reviews. Providing a few pictures or video of the product can make a review immediately stand out from a standard text only review. This allows the readers to see the product in use by actual customers rather than relying on display images provided by the seller. Additionally, this can help the readers determine the dimensions of the product better, which often remains ambiguous even after dimensions being provided by the seller. This in turn greatly improves the helpfulness of the review.

For Example:

Textual Review

Review With Text and Visuals

Keeping in mind the above points while posting a review can greatly reduce the information asymmetry between the prospective buyers and sellers and make your review shine in a sky full of stars. This will enable you to generate impactful reviews which would be truly helpful for the future customers in making a sound, informed purchase decision.

Reviews are after all made by customers for other customers. So, let us take a step together and help the future customers by providing the true, bite sized, digestible information that covers their expectations and reduces uncertainty. The most helpful and impactful reviews are not necessarily the longest or most emotional ones, but those which reduce the uncertainty of future buyers and help other customers make a better decision.