Company Advertisement Vs. Online Reviews

Question: Discuss about theCompany Advertisement Vs. Online Reviews. Answer: Technological advancement has transformed the business environment in many ways. For instance, the progress in social media has changed the mode of advertisement and gave the consumers more say in the products of a company. Social media has made the world seem like a global village, which facilitates fast movement of information compared to a traditional business advertisement. In this regard, it is important to understand the impact of online advertisement on the business advertisement. Anderson, M. and Anderson, M. (2014). 88% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations. [online] Search Engine Land. Available at: https://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803 [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017]. Anderson (2014) investigates the impact of online reviews on the perception of consumers towards a business and its impacts on the decisions to purchase products or services. In the study, Anderson (2014) outlines that 88% of individuals sort online reviews to ascertain the quality of goods and services of businesses before purchasing. This implies that 9 out of 10 consumers read online reviews before buying a product or service from a business. In addition to this, Anderson outlines that 85% of consumers are satisfied with the product of service once they have read the online reviews. This article is important because it describes the dependence and trust of consumers in online reviews compared to company advertisements. Moreover, the study shows that many consumers trust online reviews as shown by the number of individuals who read online reviews and are satisfied before purchasing a products or service from a business. Chaney, P. (2012). Word of Mouth Still Most Trusted Resource Says Nielsen; Implications for Social Commerce. [online] Digital Intelligence Today. Available at: https://digitalintelligencetoday.com/word-of-mouth-still-most-trusted-resource-says-nielsen-implications-for-social-commerce/ [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017]. Chaney (2012) noted that people trust online reviews and recommendations from friends more than they do trust company advertisements. Chaney outlines findings of a study that found 92% of consumers trust family and friend recommendations more than any form of advertisement (2012). Moreover, online reviews came second with 70% of respondents trusting online reviews more than any advertisement. Furthermore, the report outlined that 58 percent of respondents believed the editorial content, while opinions on emails and branded websites had 50% and 58% respectively. However, traditional forms of advertisements like radio, print, television served as the most distrustful forms of advertisement with only 24% of respondents trusted the medium. This article is relevant as it outlines the trust level of different forms of advertisement. Moreover, the article is insightful as it offers findings on all forms of advertisement. Gesenhues, A. (2013). Survey: 90% Of Customers Say Buying Decisions Are Influenced By Online Reviews. [online] Marketing Land. Available at: https://marketingland.com/survey-customers-more-frustrated-by-how-long-it-takes-to-resolve-a-customer-service-issue-than-the-resolution-38756 [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017]. Gesenhues (2013) cites a study by Dimensional Research in 2013 that found 90 percent of outlined that positive reviews enabled them make buying decisions, while 86 percent cited that negative reviews impacted their buying decisions. Furthermore, the study found that two-thirds of consumers who participated in the study cited reading online reviews before making buying decisions. Most of the consumers cited Facebook is the site for positive reviews and online review sites for negative reviews. The authors note that 72 percent of the respondents cited long process in and had to explain to multiple people, while 51 percent cited bad customer services as the main cause of bad online reviews. Moreover, the authors noted that 58 percent of the customers are more likely to share customer services experiences today, with more of them sharing experiences on social networks. This shows the relevance of social networks and online reviews in the business advertisement. This article is relevant b ecause it explains the factors that cause bad reviews in online reviews sites and social media. Moreover, the article offers insight into the effects of online reviews on company advertisement and reputation, which influences the purchasing power of consumers. BrightLocal. (2016). Local Consumer Review Survey 2016 | The Impact Of Online Reviews. [online] Available at: https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey/ [Accessed 19 Apr. 2017]. The article explores how consumers use and read online reviews. The article further explores how business use information in online reviews to judge the importance of online reviews and the effects of the reviews on consumer actions and opinions when searching for products and services. The report notes that a good reputation is the major assets that a business can use to attract consumers and social proof that online reviews provide consumers with relevant information about the quality of the firm thus facilitate faster decision making. This shows that people tend to trust online reviews more than a traditional advertisement. Nevertheless, this article is essential since it outlines the importance of online reviews to a business and its impacts on the reputation of businesses. Thus, the article is vital in outlining the relevance of online reviews in consumer decision making process. Forman, C., Ghose, A. and Wiesenfeld, B. (2008). Examining the Relationship Between Reviews and Sales: The Role of Reviewer Identity Disclosure in Electronic Markets. Information Systems Research, 19(3), pp.291-313. The authors noted that consumer generated reviews are on the rise. This rise is attributed to the notion of consumer decision to purchase or not to purchase a service or product is based on the negative or positive information about the product available online. This reiterates the fact that people trust the information they get online other than information the companies feed them through advertisements. Moreover, this notion can be attributed to the fact that consumer believes that the firm cannot offer them accurate information since they are out to sell their products. In addition to this, the authors noted that disclosure of identity-descriptive information influences the reviews of consumers. This article is essential because it offers insight on the factors that contribute to positive reviews and how online reviews affect the decision making of consumers.