Ratings drive trust and growth, Simon-Kucher

Customer ratings have become an increasingly important evaluation tool for almost every kind of consumer purchase globally, according to research from Simon-Kucher involving 6,400 consumers in 23 countries.

This found that shoppers now view it as their third most important criterion when buying, after product features and price, and more significant than the brand itself. Over 40% of those surveyed said they regularly read reviews before making a purchase. Almost a third of participants also usually leave their own ratings of the products they buy, while 71% have rated a product at least once. Around 60% of those who are highly dissatisfied with their purchases leave a rating, but at the same time 71% of consumers also do so when they are particularly satisfied with a product

Mark Billige, Managing Partner UK at Simon-Kucher, comments: “There is a lot of focus on disruptors’ technology, algorithms and business models, but their successful incorporation of ratings to rapidly build trust and loyalty has been underappreciated by many commentators even though this key to their success is hiding in plain sight.”

“Successful use of ratings has been a driving force allowing Amazon, ebay, Uber, AirBnB, TripAdvisor and many other platforms to harness thousands of smaller suppliers, while building huge levels of satisfaction and trust amongst consumers with minimal marketing spend. The use by businesses of the power of ratings to influence customer behaviour is only going to grow further with time and across more sectors.”