The importance of online reviews has long been recognized. Indeed, in countries such as China, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea and Poland, internet users list consumer feedback and reviews as the most important source of information they use in the product discovery process – above even search engines, which is the most popular option globally.
But it’s also clear that – in the online space – more people are talking than listening. Across all of the markets we survey at GWI, an average of 47% say they use consumer review sites when in search of product information. But just over thee fifths (61%) say they have written a critique of a product or brand. Everyone wants to be an influencer, then, but not quite so many are as keen to be influenced.
Drilling down into this at a category and brand level reveals the importance of technology to online consumers: mobiles are the subject which people talk about the most online, with Apple topping the list of the 100 brands tracked by GWI. When it comes to tech, many people clearly want to be seen as in the know.
For further insights and data on this area, see our new GWI Commerce reports.