Traditionally we have often assumed that the average rating of products and services has been key to the likelihood of shoppers gravitating towards particular items. So a 4.5-star average rating is far more desirable than a 4-star average. Research from the USF Muma College of Business suggests this might not be the entire case, however.

The study suggests that the top reviews tend to be more important when consumers are comparing products and that the average rating is less important than we think.

“It’s surprising because as a researcher, a business, or a consumer, we typically believe that when we go to Amazon, the most important piece of information is the average rating,” the authors explain.

Consumer feedback

After all, the average rating is the output of often thousands of reviews left by other consumers, so is normally seen as the gold standard insight into the product’s quality.

“And what we found was that when they read some reviews, just a few reviews can overturn the impact of average ratings,” the researchers continue.

They developed a “trade-off” based design to conduct three experiments that allowed them to delve into the impact online ratings had on consumer decision-making. The experiments showed that the top review appeared to be more important than the average rating.

“It’s the text of the top reviews that made a difference. This swaying effect only happened for the text reviews. Without text, people are not swayed. It’s the concrete details that are driving this impact,” the researchers explain.

Ratings game

Suffice to say, the authors are at pains to point out that average ratings are not inconsequential, as a low average rating is likely to prompt consumers to quickly discard a product from their search. What they are saying, however, is that a few top reviews can persuade consumers who are uncertain which product to go for.

As such, the authors urge retailers to spend less effort on trying to bump up their average rating, especially if that involves soliciting fake reviews.

“Businesses should not spend a lot of time gaming the rating system. That effort is actually not very meaningful or effective, based on our findings,” they explain. “Our findings suggest that as long as your average ratings were fine, what matters is the top reviews.”

It might also be useful to actively engage with any negative top reviews due to their influence in guiding consumer behavior. For instance, retailers might respond by highlighting that such events are relatively isolated and that the individual concerns of the consumer has been resolved.