Study: Online User Reviews Influence Us In Ways We Don't Even Realize
Early exposure to glowing reviews can influence how you feel about a restaurant Courtesy Comal/Postcard CommunicationsEarly exposure to glowing reviews about a product or service tend to stick in our minds and shape our opinions--even when later reviews are overwhelmingly negative. Nowadays, many of us rely on online user reviews, instead of expert opinions or the advice of family and friends, for help making decisions both big and small. If we want to know about a restaurant, a hotel, a product--or even a neighborhood, a school district, a church, a donut shop or a barber--we tap the web and the massive database of reviews that populates it. Turns out those reviews are influencing us in ways we might not realize. An Australian researcher conducted a pair of studies in which he found that positive reviews stay fresher in our minds than negative reviews. What's more, reading positive reviews...