Can You Trust the Reviews You Read?

14th July 2013

London, UK

Bribing shoppers to leave a review is bad practice. It reduces trust and it doesn’t even work.

One quarter of requests for reviews use a monetary incentive but we at Reevoo think this is wrong. Visit the blog here.

In a recent sample of more than 50 email invitations to write a review or complete a survey, we found a quarter of invites were using money, prizes and freebies to lure people in.

• “Would you recommend us? Get 5% off your next order”
• “You will then be entered into a free prize draw where you could win an iPad or M&S vouchers.”
• “Please submit a review and you have a chance to win a £1000”

The issue is trust. Consumers buy on the strength of reviews, but would they if they knew about the bribes? We know consumers are worried – in 2011, 27% said so in a survey – and we think this is only getting worse.

We want this practice to stop. It is entirely unnecessary.

At Reevoo we collect reviews without any financial incentives. And we get the best collection rate in the business. We appeal to altruism. Almost all people have been helped and guided by reviews themselves. Many feel inclined to return the favour. And because of this, trust in reviews stays intact.

-ENDS-

Want to know more?

Enter your company details below and we’ll get back to you within a day.

If you’d prefer an old fashioned chat (we like those) give us a call on +44 (0)20 7654 0350

All fields are required