InternetOnline Reviews Drive Offline Sales

A new study reports that online consumer reviews have a real effect on people's purchasing habits.

For merchants still wondering if commerce on the Internet and in the real world exist in separate spheres, the answer is: They don't. Research from online metrics firm comScore and the Kelsey Group, which studies local media and advertising, finds that the online ratings consumers give products and services have a direct impact on people's offline purchasing decisions, concluding that merchants who ignore their reputation in the virtual world do so at the expense of very real dollars. The researchers found that 24 percent of Internet users consult consumer-generated reviews online before making their purchases offline. Consumers were willing to pay 20 percent or more for goods that received an "Excellent," or 5-star, rating than those same products or services that received a "Good," or 4-star, rating. The study considered reviews of products in seven categories: restaurant, hotels, travel, automotive, home, medical and legal. In each of the categories, around three-quarters of the respondents who consulted online reviews said they had a significant influence on their purchases. Reviews had the greatest influence in the hotel category, where 87 percent of respondents said that online reviews played a strong role in their purchasing decisions. In the home category, online reviews had the slightest influence with 73 percent of shoppers who read reviews... [ Read more on www.internetnews.com ]

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