Online reviews: a guide not a gospel

Busy lives and the convenience of online shopping have more Australians than ever purchasing their products and services online. This trend is echoed by our recent commissioned consumer research by the University of Technology Sydney, which found 87.3% of Australians are now shopping online.

Our new paper Online reviews: a guide not a gospel explores how Australians are increasingly relying upon online reviews when buying goods and services online. 82% of those surveyed had looked at online reviews or ratings at least sometimes over the last 12 months.

While online word of mouth is an increasingly intrinsic part of how we shop, our research finds we’re also not that good at navigating the truth. 70% of us consider online reviews as important as the opinions of friends and family. Almost a third of us admitted to not thinking about the accuracy and bias of information when browsing online.

We’ve highlighted some tips from UK consumer group WHICH? and our own research to help guide consumers when navigating online reviews.