Customers share their experiences with your brand and product with online reviews. As no two people think in a similar way, they are likely to perceive the same product/service in different light.

However, these conflicting insights could lead to major ups and downs in your business. As many businesses have escaped the traditional business landscape and switched their mode of selling to online, reviews are something the customers look forward to. Over the past decade, the popularity of online reviews on e-commerce platforms has grown significantly. Today almost, more or less every website has its own feedback section for cultivating the feeling of transparency and credibility among its customers.

The impact of negative reviews –

For ages unknown, we have witnessed several times throughout the world history that bad happenings are often emphasised. And this seems even truer when it comes to online reviews. When people search for reviews they are more likely to believe on the bad ones than the good ones. A study once conducted found that the respondents were 50% more likely to share their mishaps. People prefer to share their bad interactions and experiences with a company than nothing at all on social media. Whereas, 52% of these customers are more likely to share their experiences on a review site, accessible to all.

Once customers come across a negative review on your website, they are either sceptical or hesitant to buy from you. Surveys and studies have shown that around 86% of customers don’t feel confident in purchasing from companies with negative reviews.

A single negative review can bring dramatic results to your business.  Disappointed customers express what they were expecting and how the business failed to meet their expectations. However, through their reviews they express what changes they expect from the business. Also, these reviews help future consumers to form their decision instead of just turning them away. 

 

How do negative reviews affect customer decision-making?

While making an online purchase, a customer makes their decision based on words and pictures. They form a decision or pass a judgement about your product solely depending on what they are presented with digitally.

A poor experience may hurt them at a personal level or make them lose their trust in you. A negative review might even make it portray as if what you’re delivering isn't quite a match to their taste. Or they could also perceive it in a way that what is being presented digitally isn’t delivered physically. Let alone small businesses, even big businesses also have to face the wrath of negative reviews.

A brilliant way to shield your business from these distressing negative reviews is to improve your product, offerings or customer service – a little something Samsung did back in 2016.

 

Let’s have a view at this case study of an online negative review –

Case Study - Samsung: Galaxy Note 7

In the year 2016, Samsung was flooded with waves of negative comments because the model Galaxy Note 7 kept on exploding due to a battery malfunction. This alone drove the sales down by 15% worldwide.

This dangerous and threatening problem alarmed many and the company recalled the Note 7. It stopped sales and shipments, refunded users, and provided exchanges for the phones. Unfortunately, the replacements were no different from the Note 7 model. And hence, the company recalled them as well.

Samsung bounced back through its persistent efforts and did what customers expected the company to do. The company took full responsibility for their problem and set up a team of researchers to test the handsets and batteries to pinpoint the cause of the error.

When the results were out, Samsung announced where the error was. They revealed that the size of the batteries was too big for their casing and this caused overheating. 

They further announced rolling out a quality assurance program and other safety features and focused on gaining back trust by reminding users why they should love the brand. 

 

This incident changed its internal culture since it had a brand identity that “lacked warmth and humanity”. Samsung quickly came up with a new tagline “Do What You Can’t,” and focused to create a link between phones and content creators and debuted its new personality during an Oscar commercial with Casey Neistat – a popular Youtuber.

 

In conclusion, negative reviews might hurt your business but, they don’t stand as a blockage in your business journey. If you’re smart enough, you can turn them to your advantage with a bit of know-how and sincere efforts