Online reviews are tough. I’ve noticed a lot of what I call buyer’s bias (it probably has a real, actual name, but whatever). People tend to review products they bought higher than their actual impression of the product. People don’t want to feel ripped off by any measure, so it’s not uncommon to accept flaws just to feel good about something. This might only affect some people, but it definitely feels like the ratings are biased to higher scores due to this.
I usually evaluate reviews by looking at the negative ones and seeing what they are complaining about. If I’m looking at Amazon reviews for a product sitting on a shelf in a store in front of me and most of the complaints have to do with the seller rather than the product itself, then I figure it’s a safe bet.
Online reviews are tough. I’ve noticed a lot of what I call buyer’s bias (it probably has a real, actual name, but whatever). People tend to review products they bought higher than their actual impression of the product. People don’t want to feel ripped off by any measure, so it’s not uncommon to accept flaws just to feel good about something. This might only affect some people, but it definitely feels like the ratings are biased to higher scores due to this.
I usually evaluate reviews by looking at the negative ones and seeing what they are complaining about. If I’m looking at Amazon reviews for a product sitting on a shelf in a store in front of me and most of the complaints have to do with the seller rather than the product itself, then I figure it’s a safe bet.