FAKE REVIEWS
The power of word of mouth has been persistent, even in the shift from traditional shopping centres to online shopping. Over the past few years, companies like Flipkart, Myntra, and Amazon have attracted a large crowd, comprising both buyers and sellers. The convenience with which even Gangaajal, a rather traditional and religious amenity, can now be ordered right from the comfort of your home is something that has been the USP of these companies because earlier you would see neighbours getting enough supply for the entire neighbourhood while on their trip to Haridwar.
This shift has been significant in more ways than one, but what should also be a topic of discussion is how exactly the companies ensure the trust factor.
I, as a user from Lucknow, place an order from a certain company situated in a distant land without actually having to see the product or meeting the buyer. When ordering from whatsoever platform, one almost definitely checks out the product reviews to get a better understanding of the product and also be more confident in placing the order. Hence, reviews are important from the perspective of the buyer, but let’s discuss the unethical practice of fake reviews.
THE UTILITY OF FAKE REVIEWS
While we agree that reviews are important for the customers, it’s also important to note that they are important for the sellers as well, because they do act as a deciding factor for a customer making a purchase or not. Hence, when I see reviews along the negative lines, I am less likely to buy the product and test it for myself.
The second facet of this understanding is also to defame the competition that exists in the market. Given that most of the sites don’t really verify whether or not someone has purchased a particular product before they leave a review, a lot of sites use this to their own benefit by going ahead and leaving behind reviews without actually having to use or even buy them. Many businesses do so to ensure a higher ranking through search engine optimisation. This strategy also pans out to influence the buying behaviour of the customer or bring the customer from your competitor’s site to your own.
WHAT IS THE RESULT OF FAKE REVIEWS?
Well, while this may work out for certain businesses, it is still against business ethics, which promise an experience worth spending money on; even so, in the long run, the businesses can’t really cover up if their product or services are simply not worth it. Moreover, there is a certain legality to this, as recently as October of last year, we saw the FTC, i.e. the Federal Trade Commission, send out a good number of businesses on account of them using fake reviews and other sorts of untruthful tactics to boost engagement.
HOW TO SPOT ONE?
If you don’t want to buy into the false narrative that fake reviews spun around a product or service, the best way is to know how to demarcate a fake review from an authentic one. The best way to do so is put yourself in the shoes of a possible reviewer, now if you you love a product its highly unlikely that you weave a long paragraph about it, another way to find an authentic product is to check for the comparative, an honest review would compare the good and bad unlike a fake one that would seem to only praise the product or service in a rather untruly fashion. Companies like Amazon have also initiated projects to counter this situation in the past. Along with this, the promulgation of law also leads to more fear among those who indulge in such malicious activities.
As consumers, one has to be vigilant anyway, hence don’t allow the fancy and too good to be true advertisements to sweep you off your feet, always cross-check before making a purchase and educate others about this as well!