Effects of leaving a bad review

If you’ve ever ordered your morning coffee and felt uninspired by the request to participate in an online survey or leave a social review regarding your experience, you’ve probably didn’t have a particularly noteworthy experience. If you’re willing to take time out of your day to leave online feedback, it’s usually because you want to warn people about a bad in encounter, or to help them make a better buying decision.

In a world of viral marketing and social influence, online reviews have the power to make or break businesses, but they aren’t the only companies paying attention. Reviews have become such a pivotal part of the buying experience for so many customers, that even tech goliaths like Apple can’t help but play an active role in responding to more critical responses.

So what compels us to leave reviews online, and what are we really hoping to achieve by contributing to the public discussion of a brand, experience, or product? To find out, we surveyed over 1,000 European and North-American consumers about why they leave bad reviews, how good experiences inspire them to give feedback, and the kinds of reactions and rewards they sometimes expect to receive as a result of their critiques.

Think the online review phenomena might sometimes have ulterior motives? Read on to see what we uncovered.