The Impact of Local Business Reviews on Consumer Behavior | SEO Industry Report

The Habits of Review Writers

What are the most common behaviors of review writers today?

Local businesses can create a smart strategy for earning high quality reviews in quantity by understanding the behaviors and preferences of review writers. Learning how often customers write reviews, where they write them, how they like to be asked for reviews, motivations for sharing their experiences with the public, the causes of complaints, and other factors, helps form a picture of the valued people who write reviews and how best to engage with them.

How often do you write online customer reviews for local businesses?

Estimate the success of review acquisition campaigns by understanding how responsive the public is to requests.

Only 14% of respondents never write reviews, so keep asking

Earlier, we saw that nearly ⅓ of customers are suspicious of a business that has too few reviews compared to its competitors. The good news is that 86% of respondents write at least some reviews, meaning you can build up your body of reviews if you simply keep asking and refining the way you ask so that it motivates more customers.

A small number of consumers (11%) are willing to write reviews daily, an additional segment (15%) does so weekly, and an equal group (15%) does so monthly. This combined total of 41% depicts a highly active segment of the reviewing public, many of whom may well be part of points-based programs like Google’s Local Guides. But don’t overlook the potential of less-engaged customers who will write reviews multiple times a year (17%) and those who describe themselves as writing reviews just a few times a year (27%). This is more than a quarter of your customer base who could be motivated to make your business one they will favor with a review in the coming year if your review acquisition campaign appeals to them.

Which review sites do you spend the most time on writing local business reviews?

A diversified review acquisition campaign should be based on knowing where review writers prefer to spend time.

66% of review writers spend the most time writing on Google

When asked to describe on which platforms they spend the most time writing reviews:

• 66% specified Google
• 42% specified Facebook
• 36% specified Yelp,
• Nextdoor and TripAdvisor were nearly equal at about 16%
• 10% selected smaller, industry-specific sites
• 4% chose “other”, mentioning platforms like companies’ own websites, Amazon, Expedia, AirBnB, Etsy, Booking.com, Open Table, Trust Pilot, and the BBB.

The diversity of places in which review writers are active is hopeful, but the narrative narrows somewhat when seeing that Google is attracting more than 60% of reviewers. A local business can interpret this data in at least two ways.

1. The business might decide that the prominence of Google means the bulk of review marketing has already been done for the business; reviewers are already geared towards heading to Google without even being asked. Because of this, a business could choose to dedicate less resources to requesting Google-based reviews and try to stand out on platforms where active reviewers are spending less time - the thinking being that effort in these areas could be a competitive advantage.

2. The owner could realize that Google’s dominance necessitates focusing the bulk of review acquisition activities on it, and taken in conjunction with the statistic that 79% of review readers are also spending the most time there, this conclusion is certainly sound.

But don’t overlook the segment of respondents who mentioned leaving first-party reviews directly on local business websites. As we saw earlier, 33% of consumers cite reviews as the most important factor determining whether they can trust a business and 68% say they trust what customers say about brands more than what brands say about themselves. Building up first-party reviews and testimonials is the best way to improve your website with user-generated content that will be highly trusted by the public, so long as the brand is adhering to truth-in-advertising standards and government regulations.

Has COVID-19 impacted how frequently you write reviews?

When major societal disruption occurs, businesses need to consider all of its impacts on standard operations.

55% of consumers say the pandemic has had no effect on their reviewing habits

For 55% of the public, the massive disruption of the pandemic did not disrupt their review writing habits; they continued to write as many reviews as they had prior to COVID-19. Additionally, 18% actually wrote more reviews, and this is in keeping with economic reporting of how many customers have had to turn to new businesses and brands amid upheaval. Just over a quarter of respondents (27%) reported that they wrote less reviews, and this also makes sense, giving periodic lockdowns and major societal changes.

This picture would look different if broken down by industry, no doubt, but as a general takeaway, the public health crisis has not stopped the work of seeking and receiving new reviews.

Select all of the following that have caused you to leave a negative review:

If you understand common customer pain points in advance, you’ll be better empowered to alleviate and avoid them.

The top cause of negative reviews is bad or rude customer service

According to survey respondents, 65% of negative reviews resulted from bad or rude customer service. This statistic is a great reminder of how important it is to treat each customer that you and/or customer-facing staff interact with as the source of a potential online review. The better your customers are treated, the more likely your business is to receive positive reviews. To the best of your ability as a business owner or leader, work to ensure that your customer-facing employees have what they need to adequately meet or respond to customers’ needs at all times and when you feel you’ve had a positive interaction, don’t hesitate to ask for a review!

• Other factors which cause consumers to write a negative reputational narrative for local businesses include:
• Bad product (63%)
• Low-quality work on a job (38%)
• False information in the local business listing or reviews (29%)
• Failure of the business to resolve complaints in person (28%)
• Inadequate safety protocols (28%)
• Incorrect online info about physical addresses, phone numbers and hours of operation (23%)
• Having a negative opinion after having formerly worked for the business (11%)

There is so much to unpack here in terms of solutions, including:

• Recent supply chain issues making it especially tough for business owners to be the guardians of inventory quality they aspire to; do all you can to stock high-quality products whenever possible
• Listing management can go far towards reducing inaccurate and spammy online information about your business
• Training staff to catch and resolve complaints in-person is a necessary reputational safeguard
• Serve the 58% of customers we’ve learned are looking at reviews for COVID safety information; publicize your safeguards and protocols
• Request removal of reviews from former employees - they are not allowed on the major review platforms

Why do you write local business reviews?

Businesses are more equipped to inspire great feedback when they know what motivates customers.

Sharing experiences and gratitude drive the overwhelming majority of reviews

Reviews can be a source of some trepidation for new local business owners. It may help to know that the majority of customers engage in review writing from excellent motives, not a wish to punish or blame businesses. When asked to select all of the reasons they write reviews, 73% cite the civic-minded motivation of simply wanting to let others know their experience. An outstanding 63% generously spend time writing reviews to show appreciation to local businesses - a greatly encouraging thought. An additional 12% engage in review writing because they simply enjoy creating content about local businesses.

We must also look for the positive amongst the 38% who write reviews to tell the business it needs to improve. Past polls have shown that the majority of dissatisfied customers never speak up. Those who take the time to do so are actually providing an essential service in terms of citing problems the business can solve as soon as it is aware of them. Negative reviews are free business intelligence that should be prized as a catalyst for making meaningful adjustments that should improve customer satisfaction. Also note, 21% of reviewers say they are writing with the specific goal of receiving a response from the business. To ignore them would be analogous to walking right past a customer who is asking for help in your place of business.

Finally, platforms like Google and Yelp are seeing moderate success in the gamification of review writing. 13% of respondents write reviews to earn higher status or points from the review platform. It’s a slippery slope; these platforms are allowed to incentivize reviewers (sometimes to the detriment of content quality) but business owners are never allowed to do the same. Unfortunately, we’re about to see how some business owners have yet to understand this last point.

Has a business offered you money, discounts, or gifts in exchange for writing a review?

Local businesses need to know when bad actors could be muddying the waters for all legitimate organizations.

40% of customers are being subjected to forbidden or illegal review requests

This is the definition of an uh-oh! moment: 40% of respondents to our survey have experienced being offered money, discounts, or gifts in exchange for writing reviews. Let’s make no bones about it – this is an unethical business practice designed to fake a good reputation rather than earn one. It’s forbidden by every review platform I know of, and in the US, fake reviews and deceptive endorsements have become so large a problem that the FTC issued a mass Notice of Penalty Offenses regarding them in 2021. Lawsuits and multi-million dollar fines undermine any effort to build the kind of reputation that engenders business longevity.

While it’s good to see that the majority (60%) are not receiving incentivized review requests, and that Google is continuing to refine its content guidelines to specify, for example, that business owners are also prohibited from incentivizing the removal of negative reviews, society is burdened with a significant trust issue when four out of ten neighbors are being asked to recommend local businesses on the basis of bribery rather than merit.

We’ve established that reviews are either the most important or a somewhat important source of trusted local business information for 86% of consumers, that 70% of respondents are reading between 5-20 reviews prior to giving a business a try, but that only 10% say that their trust in this content has eroded over the past three years. It’s a troubling picture when we think of a society that is turning, en masse, to reviews to discover COVID safety practices, medical services, financial services, home services and solutions to other serious needs when four out of ten of their neighbors are being asked to endorse brands on the basis of undisclosed rewards.

Our survey did not assess how many people actually accept offers of bribery, but awareness of the scenario should become common knowledge so that consumers can make truly informed assessments of review integrity in their decision-making processes.

Has a local business directly asked you for a review in the past 5 years?

Knowing how actively business owners are taking advantage of the ability to request reviews can provide useful insights.

39% of review writers have not received a direct review request in the past 5 years

Fortunately, most platforms (with the often-cited exception of Yelp) have no problem with non-incentivized review requests and 61% of reviewers have received at least one direct request from a business to write a review at some point in the past 5 years. It’s a number that speaks fairly well of the volume of local businesses which have embraced review acquisition campaigns as part of their marketing strategies. However, as 39% of reviewers have not received a single direct review request in the last half decade, it’s clear that opportunity is being left on the table by many local brands.

It’s good to view these statistics within the context of a given town or city. Imagine that more than a ⅓ of your neighbors haven’t been asked to write a review by a business like yours in 5 years. Surely some of them would if you just take the time to make the request in a way that appeals to them. How often you might succeed brings us to our next data set.

When asked by a business to leave a review, how often do you do so?

Estimate the chances of review acquisition campaign success by discovering how responsive customers generally are.

If asked, more than half of your customers will always or usually write a review

When a business takes the time to directly ask for a review, 22% will always do so, and 29% will usually do so. These are very motivating statistics, and when coupled with the group of 34% who will sometimes write reviews in response to requests, your chances are excellent for building up your quantity of reviews with a strong, ongoing campaign. This takeaway should be tempered, though, with the acknowledgement that all industries are not equal in terms of the ease with which reviews can be requested and received. Privacy and legal considerations will put some sectors outside the general picture of consumer willingness to publish reviews.

Meanwhile, 11% of consumers rarely accede to review requests, and 4% never do. Local brands in highly competitive markets may need to look hardest at this reluctant 15% group. Is it simply human nature for some folks to ignore review asks, or is the way they are being asked that causes them not to respond? Knowing how the public prefers to be petitioned could help you in this task, and that brings us to our next survey question.

How do you prefer to be asked for local business reviews?

Increase the success rate of review acquisition campaigns by honoring customers’ preferences.

Email is the preferred review request method for more than half of consumers

Don’t make the mistake of viewing email as dated; 54% of consumers still list it as their preferred medium for receiving review requests. Following quickly behind email, person-to-person conversation forms the review request scenario preferred by 45% of customers showing that interpersonal interactions are still key. Related to this, an additional 9% cite phone conversations with the business as the environment in which they like to be asked for reviews. We can think of all three as established, traditional modes of communication.

However, businesses should embrace newer opportunities for garnering consumer sentiment via SMS/texting, which 29% of consumers now prefer for receiving review asks. The nice thing about texting is that the customer already has the necessary device right in their hand to write the review.

Finally, time-honored print media will be part of any well-rounded review acquisition strategy. Review requests on receipts and invoices are favored by a significant 25% of customers, and an additional 19% cite in-store signage. Consider how windows, walls, shopfronts, bags, menus, packaging, and receipts could be asking customers to leave you a review 24/7. Next up, we’ll see why such assets could be of premium importance.

Are any of these a roadblock to you writing more reviews than you do?

Discover and remove obstacles to customers leaving reviews.

The top reason customers don’t review your business is because they forget to

Receipts, packaging, bags and other subtle reminders to leave a local business review take on whole new dimensions of importance when you know that 38% of consumers say that the main reason they don’t write more reviews is because they forget to do so when they have free time. We all know life is busy, and in that context, thoughtful review request reminders can be a help to customers, rather than an annoyance. Brands can go beyond print materials to issue reminders via email, text or personal follow-up, as well.

Other roadblocks to leaving a review cited by consumers include the review process being too confusing or difficult (30%), not believing the business will care enough to read what’s written (26%), not wanting to spend time writing reviews (24%), not wanting their opinion to be public (20%), and not being directly asked for reviews (19%). Respondents who chose the “other” answer option (5%) provided some illuminating feedback, including:

• Not trusting the credibility of specific review platforms
• Only leaving reviews for exceptionally good or bad experiences
• Fear of retaliation from the business or others
• Being too busy
• Wanting to keep the best local businesses a secret
• Having already reviewed most of the businesses near them
• Not liking being asked for reviews
• Dislike of particular platforms

A well-planned marketing strategy can address so many of these roadblocks. In addition to providing reminders, a business can, for example, streamline the process of leaving reviews by including links in their requests and other aids. A business can convince reluctant reviewers to believe that they read every single review that comes in by replying to all of them via the owner response function. And, of course, almost every business can simply ask for reviews!

Next Up: The Superpowers of Owner Responses

Written by Miriam Ellis, Moz Local SEO Subject Matter Expert and Moz staff.