A quarter of consumers say they’re more skeptical of reviews on retail sites
Nearly 44 per cent of consumers say they spend more time researching before buying than they did two years ago, and the reviews a brand posts itself are only part of the mix, according to a study from Reddit.
The online forum partnered with eMarketer to survey more than 1,000 U.S. adults to produce its report, titled, Holiday Shoppers Lean on Peers for Reassurance Before Checkout.
Reddit found 28 per cent of holiday shoppers buy more based on recommendations from people in similar situations. However 23 per cent said they need to see alignment across a mix of sources before committing to a purchase.
Regardless of whether they’re looking on community forums, consuming content from influencers or reading traditional reviews, 26 per cent said an honest discussion of a product’s downsides alongside its strengths made them more confident than an expert endorsement.
“Across categories, shoppers seek out perspectives from people with relevant experience to help validate important purchases related to the holidays,” the report’s authors wrote. “Consumers increasingly look beyond brand messaging to understand how these products resonate in the real world.”
360 Magazine Insight
The self-serving nature of Reddit’s research is pretty clear throughout this report, which is aimed at enticing marketers to invest more on its platform rather than traditional channels and influencers.
For example, there is a detailed look at how influencers may garner consumer’s attention but fail to “close the deal,” whereas 84 per cent of those surveyed said they feel more confident in purchasing after researching on Reddit.
It’s a little surprising to see Reddit making such an ardent bid for relevance when it’s often cited as a top source of referral traffic for large language models (LLMs) that power AI search results. Meanwhile, its own data shows only 11 per cent of shoppers make decisions based on what those in online communities are saying.
If anything, this research should remind customer experience (CX) leaders that shoppers want to see genuine insight and candor when they’re looking up holiday gifts or other purchases. If they’re increasingly skeptical about the reviews retailers post online, it’s probably because they recognize many brands are loath to highlight anything other than a rave.
As always, the better approach is a live feed of reviews, where CX teams can show how they’ve responded to negative reviews. They should make the same effort to engage across other channels, including Reddit, and only partner with creators who are willing to walk through the cons as well as the pros.
This gated 17-page report may not be worth the download unless you’re actively thinking about marketing on Reddit and want some numbers to build a strong business case to your CMO or other senior leader.
