Anne Howe

Getting the Ratings You Pay For

January 27, 2012

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Deceptive reviews on e-tail sites are not a new problem. A New York Times article that says a seller of cases for tablet devices, VIP Deals, offered to rebate Amazon consumers $2 a star for reviews. Do you see any danger that reviews may soon be seen as worthless by consumers as a result of such cases?      [more...]

This practice should be discontinued. It's just another runway for consumers to distrust brands and retailers who continue to "push" information to shoppers by using shady practices like paid reviews. Consumers trust real word of mouth (as in "in real life") more than posted comments. But this practice has potential to discredit a lot of other ethical digital marketing practices, as distrust grows faster than trust.