Customer reviews play a crucial role in how today’s consumers judge brands and businesses. Before your potential customers even go to a physical location, they read online reviews on websites like Google, Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, and Tripadvisor.
It’s important to understand that customer reviews aren’t just a way for consumers to express their opinions about your brand, product, or service. Reviews can also influence your brand’s search engine performance. Moreover, reviews can be harnessed as marketing tools to improve reputation and revenue.
Here at ReviewTrackers, we are committed to helping companies understand the impact that reviews have on consumer behavior and business performance. Here’s a compilation of statistics that demonstrate the impact of customer reviews.
General Statistics on Customer Reviews
Research shows that consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations made by friends and family. Reviews also influence shopping decisions more than any type of online marketing and advertising.
The Impact of Customer Reviews on Consumer Behavior
- One of the main reasons why 62% of consumers (ages 18 to 34 years old) trust a brand is because of its good ratings and reviews. (Marketing Charts)
- 94% of consumers say a bad review has convinced them to avoid a business. (Online Reviews Statistics Report by ReviewTrackers)
- The purchase likelihood for a product with five reviews is 270% greater than the purchase likelihood of a product with no reviews. (Northwestern University).
- Tripadvisor users read about 9 reviews before deciding on booking a hotel or restaurant. (Tripadvisor)
- Review interaction is up by 50% from pre-pandemic levels. This demonstrates consumers’ heightened sensitivity about where to go or what to purchase in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Online Reviews Statistics Report by ReviewTrackers)
- 92.4% of consumers use online reviews to guide most of their ordinary purchasing decisions. (NRC Health)
- 63.6% of consumers check reviews on Google before visiting a business. (Google Reviews: The Complete Guide)
- The rating trusted most by consumers is 4 stars followed by 4.5 and 5 stars. (Online Reviews Statistics Report by ReviewTrackers)
How Reviews Impact Brand Reputation and Trust
- 90% of consumers report not frequenting a business with negative reviews and a bad online reputation. (Status Labs)
- Customers don’t trust companies with lower than 4-star ratings. The most common filter applied is to see only companies with 4-star ratings and higher. (Online Reviews Statistics Report by ReviewTrackers)
- 83% of shoppers discover new brands and products every month through reviews. Moreover, 7% of consumers need to read at least 20 reviews before they put enough trust in a company. (Social Media Link)
- 53% of consumers view product ratings and reviews as the most important factor in the online shopping experience. (Statista)
- 94% of consumers said a negative review convinced them to avoid a business. (Online Reviews Statistics Report by ReviewTrackers)
- Consumers expect 112 reviews to confirm the authenticity of a rating. (Salsify)
- 35% of consumers ranked “trust in brand” as one of the top 3 reasons for choosing a retailer. (PwC)
The Effect of Customer Reviews on SEO
- Reviews are the number 3 ranking factor for the local pack results, and they also are a top 7 ranking factor in local organic search. (Local SEO Guide)
- Review signals account for 13% of how Google ranks local search results. (SEO Site Checkup)
- Online reviews can improve click-through rates by up to 35%. (SEO Site Checkup)
Why Should Companies Respond to Customer Reviews?
- 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week. 1 in 3 have a shorter time frame of 3 days or less. (How to Respond to Negative Reviews Guide)
- 63% say that at least one company they reviewed never even responded. (How to Respond to Negative Reviews Guide)
- 88% of US consumers read management’s responses to a Tripadvisor review. (Tripadvisor)
- Responding to a 1- or 2-star review within 24 hours has a 33% higher probability of the reviewer coming back and upgrading the review by as much as three stars (Nation’s Restaurant News).
- 44.6% are more likely to visit a local business if the owner responds to negative reviews (How to Respond to Negative Reviews Guide)
- Responsive industry leaders get higher ratings. Faster review response times are closely linked to having a positive reputation. (Online Reviews Statistics Report by ReviewTrackers)
Reviews, Customer Experience, and Revenue
- Businesses with a 4.0 to 4.5 star rating earn an additional 28% annual revenue. (Womply)
- A one-star increase in a restaurant’s Yelp rating can result in as much as a 9% increase in revenue. (Harvard Business School)
- Businesses with more reviews generate 54% more revenue. Furthermore, those with more than the average number of reviews bring in 82% more annual revenue than businesses with below-average review quantity. (Online Reviews Statistics Report by ReviewTrackers)
- 28% of consumers are likely to leave a review after a positive experience, while 34% are likely to leave a review after a negative experience. (ReviewTrackers)
- 52% of consumers said a bad customer service interaction convinced them to tell others not to buy those specific products or services. (Dimensional Research)
- 67% of consumers said a “good customer service interaction” had an effect on their future buying habits, specifically by recommending the product or service they bought to others. (Dimensional Research)
- 46% of consumers used review sites to tell others about their bad customer experience. (Dimensional Research)
- Reviewers demand greater value from businesses. Reviews that talk about value tend to be more critical than reviews that talk about other aspects of the customer experience (product, service, location). (Online Reviews Statistics Report by ReviewTrackers)
Why Ask Customers for Reviews?
- The average rating of reviews generated from review requests (businesses asking for reviews) is 4.34 stars out of 5: higher than the average rating of unprompted reviews (3.89 stars out of 5). (Asking for Reviews Guide)
- Research also shows that an increase of 1 to 8 reviews can lead to significant improvements in conversion rates. If review volume increases by 8 to 100 reviews, you can expect an increase in natural search traffic. (Shopping Decisions Research)
- The two best times to ask for reviews are between 2-3 PM and 6-7PM. These are the times consumers are most likely to rate a business on Google. (Asking for Reviews Guide)
Interesting Stats on Business Review Sites
- Google holds 57.5% of all reviews. 88% of all reviews come from only 4 review sites. The long tail doesn’t provide as valuable a return as it used to. Marketers should focus on top directories that hold domain authority and impact reputation. (Online Reviews Statistics Report by ReviewTrackers)
- The average Facebook review rating is 4.42 stars, the average Google review rating is 4.3 stars, the average Tripadvisor review rating is 4.25 stars, and the average Yelp review rating is 3.65 stars. (ReviewTrackers)
40%
Over 40 percent of consumers are likely to leave a review after a positive experience at a hotel.
ReviewTrackers
ReviewTrackers
How Customer Reviews Impact the Hospitality Industry
It’s crucial for hospitality executives to understand the impact that guest reviews have on brand reputation. The guest experience does not begin when the diner arrives at the restaurant or the traveler checks into the hotel. In an on-demand economy where technological innovations have significantly expanded the range of crucial touchpoints, winners and losers will be determined by their ability to manage customer reviews, harness feedback, and optimize the customer experience.
Customer Reviews in Restaurants and Food Service
- 33% of restaurant-goers stated that they would not eat at a restaurant with an average 3-star rating on online review websites such as Yelp, Google, and Facebook. (Restaurant Star Rating Research)
- 35% of consumers choose a restaurant based on influence from online reviews. (Toast)
- A half-star rating improvement on Yelp makes it 30 to 49% more likely that a restaurant will sell out seats during peak hours. (Berkeley)
- When compared to Google, Facebook, and Yelp, 94% of US respondents said Tripadvisor provided the most accurate, trustworthy, helpful, and descriptive restaurant reviews and photos. (Tripadvisor)
- Restaurant guests are more likely to leave high ratings on Facebook than on any other review site. Furthermore, 80% of customers are likely to use a rating filter when searching for a restaurant. (Restaurant Star Rating Research)
- A one-star increase in a restaurant’s Yelp rating can result in as much as a 9% increase in revenue. (Harvard Business School)
- 77% of diners rely on peer reviews over critic reviews. (Upserve)
- When dealing with negative reviews or in-person feedback, 23% of restaurateurs reach out directly to the reviewer and 15% mention the feedback when conducting performance reviews to staff. (Toast)
How Reviews Influence Travel, Hotels, and Entertainment
- The average star rating for the entertainment and leisure industry is 4.41 out of 5. (Online Reputation Analysis)
- Nearly 8 out of 10 TripAdvisor users (79%) are more likely to book a hotel with a higher rating when choosing between two otherwise identical properties, and over half (52%) agree that they would never book a hotel with no reviews. (Tripadvisor)
- Travelers are willing to pay a higher price for a hotel based on ratings instead of the hotel brand name. (Travel Pulse)
- 48% will leave a review after a bad experience at a hotel. (ReviewTrackers)
- 97% of US travel business respondents say online reputation management is important to their business. (Tripadvisor)
- HGEM (a guest experience management company) has seen a 71% increase in review response time since using online reputation management software ReviewTrackers. (HGEM Case Study)
- ReviewTrackers hospitality customers generate an average of 52 reviews per month. (ReviewTrackers customer data)
The Influence of Reviews on Financial Services Brands
In the world of banking and financial services, the ability to manage online reviews and customer feedback can spell the difference between organizations that win and those that get left behind. That’s because reputation is a powerful business currency in financial services.
Customer Reviews’ Influence on FinServe, Banking, and Insurance
- 61% of consumers think online reviews and reputation are influential when choosing an insurance agent. (Financial Services Report)
- 80 to 90% of insurance agencies have 3 reviews or less. (Rocket Referrals)
- 19% of consumers will leave a review after they have a positive experience with their local bank branch, while 26% are likely to leave a review after a negative experience. (ReviewTrackers)
- A major problem affecting the reputation of banks is the decline in overall satisfaction, specifically when it comes to resolving customer problems, as well as the timeliness in addressing the issue. (J.D. Power)
- Financial services organizations have an average rating of 3.9 stars out of 5.0. In the previous year (2021), the financial services industry’s average was 4.01 stars. Meanwhile, the average star rating for the insurance industry is 4.53. (Online Reputation Analysis)
- Financial services as an industry ranks 11th out of 14th in terms of average ratings. The top-ranking industry is insurance, followed by automotive (including automotive services) and entertainment, while real estate and education rank last on the list. (Online Reputation Analysis)
- A 1-point decline in Forrester’s Customer Index score means a multichannel bank loses $124 million in revenue. (Forbes)
54%
of consumers use patient reviews to form their own opinion of a doctor, dentist, or other healthcare provider.
PatientPop
PatientPop
How Reviews Influence Healthcare Decisions
Patients rely heavily on the reviews of other consumers before they trust a physician with their health information. Customer reviews (and how well providers manage these reviews) allow organizations to discover high-impact patient experience issues in record time, solve problems faster, and capture important patient feedback, data, and insights.
Healthcare Consumers Rely on Reviews
- 69.9% of consumers see positive patient reviews as “very” or “extremely” important. (Patientpop)
- 72% of consumers use online reviews as the first step to finding a new doctor. (Software Advice)
- 27% of consumers want to see ratings and reviews of physicians on a physician-based website. (NRC Health)
- The most used review site for healthcare is Google (37%), followed by Healthgrades (26%), RateMDs (13%), Yelp (12%), and other sites (12%). (Software Advice)
- 59% of consumers see online reviews from patients as a contribution to their decision when it comes to choosing a doctor, dentist, or other healthcare provider. (Patientpop)
- 48% would go out of their insurance network for a provider with favorable reviews. (Software Advice)
- 34.7% of patients (the highest across multiple industries) say their doctor’s online reputation is very important. (NRC Health)
- Nearly two-fifths of patients will overlook negative reviews if the provider responds to the reviews in a thoughtful manner. (Software Advice)
Managing Reviews and the Patient Experience
- There is a 34% year-over-year growth in consumers placing importance on choosing a provider with whom they had experience in the past. (NRC Health)
- 28% of patients are likely to write a review after a positive experience with their primary care physician, while 31% will write a review after a negative experience. (ReviewTrackers)
- 51.8% of patients say their negative feedback wasn’t addressed by the practice. (Patientpop)
- 92% of healthcare consumers surveyed said the top priority for medical providers over the next 12 months is to “improve customer experience.” (Black Book Market Research)
- 90% of patients no longer feel obligated to stay with providers that don’t deliver an overall satisfactory digital experience, and 88% will choose their next medical provider based on a strong online presence. (Black Book Market Research)
- Spending as little as 10 minutes every week “cultivating your online presence and addressing feedback publicly” reduces the impact of negative reviews by 70%. (Software Advice)
The Impact of Reviews on Consumer Services
Consumers rely on multiple services in their daily lives. This can come in the form of a trusted plumber, a new car mechanic, or even a support representative to resolve issues. The experiences in these and other service-based businesses can lead to customer reviews that attract or repel additional customers, while also disrupting the way consumer services brands operate and engage with clients, employees, and stakeholders.
Customer Reviews Statistics on Consumer Services
- 62% of US online users read reviews before selecting customer services. Meanwhile, 32% will read reviews before selecting a utility service. (Statista)
- 67.1% of consumers see reviews as influential when it comes to choosing a new auto repair service. (ReviewTrackers)
- The average star rating for the legal industry is 4.51 out of 5.0. Same for the services industry. Meanwhile, the average star rating for retail and wholesale is 4.27 stars out of 5.0. Automotive has an average rating of 4.21 stars while it’s 4.09 for real estate firms and brands. (ReviewTrackers)
- 78% of consumers say the more expensive the product or service, the more they read reviews. (PowerReviews)
Consumer Behavior and Services Reviews
- 65.2 percent of consumers think reviews are influential when choosing an auto dealer (ReviewTrackers).
- About 34 percent of consumers are likely to leave a review after a positive experience with an automotive service (ReviewTrackers).
- 28 percent of consumers will leave a review after a positive experience with a dealership (ReviewTrackers).
- 35 percent will write a review after a negative experience at a dealership (ReviewTrackers).
- 32 percent of U.S. online users read reviews before selecting a utility service (Statista).
Facts and Figures: Employer Brand Reviews
- When making a decision on where to apply for a job, 84% of job seekers say the reputation of a company as an employer is important. And 93% say it’s important to be thoughtful and informed about all aspects of a company prior to accepting a job offer. (Glassdoor)
- A strong employer brand can reduce the cost per hire by as much as 50%, and a negative reputation can cost a company as much as 10% more per hire. (Glassdoor)
- 83% of employees and job seekers are likely to research a company’s online reviews and ratings when deciding on where to apply for a job. (Employer Brand Stats)
- 7 out of 10 people surveyed changed their opinion about a brand after the company replied to an employee review. (G2)
- A 1-star improvement in a company’s Glassdoor rating raises the likelihood that a typical employee will stay for their next role by 4%. (Glassdoor)
- Nearly 3 in 4 (74%) of Glassdoor users read at least 4 reviews before forming an opinion of a company. (Glassdoor)
