Customer Reviews Really Do Impact Sales
Customer reviews have a significant impact on what books consumers buy at online bookstores, with negative reviews carrying more weight. That's the key finding of a study conducted by the Center for Customer Insights at the Yale School of Management. Examining reviews at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com, the impact of a negative review was found to be more powerful in decreasing book sales than a positive review is in increasing sales.
The study attributed this behavior to the credibility consumers place on the reviews. For example, multiple glowing reviews for a book may be perceived as hype generated by an author or publisher.
Disclosure: The study was co-authored by Dr. Dina Mayzlin, a member of the WOMMA Advisory Board.
Source: Dr. Dina Mayzlin, Yale Center for Customer Insights, "The Effect of Word of Mouth on Sales: Online Book Reviews".
