How strong is review culture in US?

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indifferentunicorn@reddit

Yes most people look at reviews for hotels and restaurants and anything else that has a wide variety of choices across a large price range. They are looking for pro/cons that personally matter to them.

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ilovelabs2094@reddit

I read reviews for most businesses I’m visiting unless recommended to me by a friend. Restaurants, services, and doctors are very expensive here, it’s kind of necessary to ensure you’re not wasting money.

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anonymouse278@reddit

And sometimes you find out very valuable things. My kid got a referral to a medical specialist and when I googled her, she had the worst reviews of any medical provider I've ever seen. Not just one or two bad reviews, but dozens over years, many reporting disturbing behavior towards child patients (yelling, threatening, bizarre stuff). It sounds like even one visit could have been traumatic for a kid already dealing with something stressful. We got the referral changed to someone else.

I really appreciate those reviewers giving a heads up about something I never would have expected in advance.

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huazzy@reddit

It's not just things I will spend money on but time as well. Which means I read reviews (or the scores/ratings) of movies before watching them.

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Self-Comprehensive@reddit

I read reviews of items I'm thinking about purchasing but rarely read reviews for restaurants or businesses in general. I live in a small enough town that word of mouth is sufficient

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TheLeopardMedium@reddit

I’ve never read a review for a business in my life, but apparently I’m the odd one out. I didn’t realize they were such a big deal.

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anneofgraygardens@reddit

How do you decide who to call for a job? Sometimes you can ask friends or coworkers for advice, sure, but sometimes it's specific enough that you might not know anyone who can recommend a service. Like right now I want to get my garage door replaced. This isn't a service that I hear people talk about often, like they might with a plumber or electrician. So I went on Yelp and read some reviews before calling a company for a quote.

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TheLeopardMedium@reddit

A good friend of mine is a contractor so he’s always my first call for home repairs, and will either do it himself or hook me up with a guy. I have a few rental properties so I end up calling him a lot.

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huazzy@reddit

That's interesting to me. What about products/movies? Do you read those?

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TheLeopardMedium@reddit

I’ll sometimes read reviews on cheap Amazon products, in cases where there are a thousand similar products offered and I want to choose a good-quality one, but that’s it. No on movies, too.

I’ve never thought much about it but I guess my issue is that I want to form my own opinion on things. I’ve met “the masses” and I don’t trust their judgement.

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PeanutterButter101@reddit

I’ve met “the masses” and I don’t trust their judgement

A lot of reviews are bought and paid for so you're right to be skeptical.

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Danibear285@reddit

I didn’t know South Asia has such low standards

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Sea_Information_8509@reddit (OP)

It's not that South Asia has such low standard, and we don't care about ourselves. It's just that our method of determining a place to be good or bad is not based upon Google reviews.

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Sea_Information_8509@reddit (OP)

It's not that South Asia has such low standard, and we don't care about ourselves. It's just that our method of determining a place to be good or bad is not based upon Google reviews.

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ChatBot42@reddit

That's an interesting question. Everywhere in the US that we've lived previously, local reviews were great and useful.

Last year we moved to eastern Tennessee and discovered something interesting. People here are just too nice for reviews to be useful. It's rare to find even the worst place that is less than like 4.2 stars.

This is an exaggeration obviously, but imagine a review that says "Ate there recently and we were sick for 3 days! Probably our fault. The chairs were nice. 4.5 stars!" and you wouldn't be far off.

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Thhe_Shakes@reddit

Individual reviews don't matter much, but the aggregate rankings on popular search sites like google do. And they definitely matter the most to new and small businesses.

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SnowblindAlbino@reddit

I rarely go out to eat anywhere without reading reviews first, and they absolutely have an impact.

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macrocosm93@reddit

Businesses do care a lot about things like Yelp reviews because people search on Google for restaurants in the area (or whatever kind of business) and the stars/reviews are front and center and people are more likely to avoid places with low or mid reviews and go to the places with good reviews.

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Broad_Top463@reddit

Very Strong, so strong that its a job. People will pay random influencers money to make review their restaurant. In general everyone is a food critic. And alot of folks do trust Yelp and word of mouth. America is a really expensive country to live in, so if you're going out to eat the food better good.

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Professional-Pungo@reddit

in retrospect, my time in China kind of points me to believe the US review culture is low to mid.

I am just a normal person, but I go to restaurants with friends and the staff will offer some free foods/alcohol drinks if I promise to just leave them a 5 star review.

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sadthrow104@reddit

China Japan Korea etc have a very high baseline for casual eating vs the USA I feel

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Littleboypurple@reddit

Funny, one of my housemates is on the opposite spectrum from I when it comes to reviews related to entertainment like Movies and Video Games. He very much trusts the Critics, the professionals, since it is their job and regular people can be stupid and just say whatever they want. However, I trust the regular people over Critics because they can be extremely unreliable, out of touch, or simply paid to endorse something.

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Broad_Top463@reddit

I have genuinely never heard anybody who trusts critics.

I feel like most people are like you: distrustful of anybody who is paid to give their opinion. Your friend sounds insane lol.

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Littleboypurple@reddit

I don't get it either but, he kinda does have a negative view of people in general

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Broad_Top463@reddit

I can kinda sympathize with that lol

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RegionWrong2547@reddit

Yeah it's wild how much power Yelp has over small businesses here. I've literally seen restaurants close because of bad reviews, and others blow up overnight from going viral on social media. When you're dropping $60+ on dinner for two, you bet people are checking those stars first.

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rebelipar@reddit

I don't think I have gone to any restaurant without checking the Google Maps reviews.

I do actually read them, though. Especially the negative reviews--they are usually about something I don't particularly care about.

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Prestigious-Dog-2150@reddit

We are a MUCH larger country than Pakistan with far more companies competing in almost every bracket. If I need to call a plumber, landscaper, air conditioning serviceman, electrician, etc, I read the reviews.

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Crying_in_99Ranch@reddit

I give this question 4 out of 5 stars

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notthegoatseguy@reddit

With the rise of AI and how easy reviews are to manipulate, its getting harder and harder to tell genuine experiences vs something a restaurant or other business paid to be there.

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theegodmother1999@reddit

huge deal here. even if the reviews are "bad" it can determine whether the service itself was bad, or if the FOOD was bad. (like the owner is a grumpy, rude old man but he made the best sushi i've ever had type of review). i use them constantly tbh, especially when trying to figure out where to go to eat if i want something i've never had before.

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Phillyfan_10@reddit

Reviews are a data point, but one that is absolutely taken into consideration for many decisions, for many people. Everything from local parks to plumbers, to restaurants and household products.

Now, if a place only has a few reviews, it’s generally understood that it’s not fair to judge a place or thing based on such a small amount of data. If a restaurant has 500 1 star reviews, it may be worth considering somewhere else. Other caveat, is that a majority of people are objective and honest in their reviews. Not always, and not everyone, but remember, the same people giving reviews are the same ones receiving them, so it serves everyone to be honest in your feedback.

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Odd-Condition-4773@reddit

Strong. When I buy something from Amazon, I always look at reviews (most stars, most reviews). A lot of the products may appear to be the same, but I’ll just go with the most trusted one. It’s super important to me also when planning a vacation because I’ll be blowing a lot of money on lodging and food/restaurants. I REALLY look at reviews when ordering food delivery because I REALLY don’t want food poisoning!

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DifferentWindow1436@reddit

Yeah, reviews are really helpful.

Like, a place you've never seen gets 4.5 stars. But it's only when you read the reviews that you find out the rating is because cost conscious people like the big servings. And what you wanted is a place to take your wife for a fancy date. OK, so skip that place.

Or maybe you find that food is great, but the service can be really slow and that's not your thing. Or maybe it's more of an adult place , better not bring kiddos.

That's why I like reviews. You get context.

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ChuushaHime@reddit

I prefer to stay in cheap hotels and this is so important because it's the only way you can distinguish the budget-friendly economy places from the total fleabags. People will ding cheap hotels for the stupidest things ("elevator was slow" "continental breakfast doesn't last long enough" "they wouldn't give me late checkout" well it's $59/night, Brenda H. from Idaho, tf did you expect?) so you need to read the reviews to find out if that Budget Inn has 2.9 stars because it's kind of dated with slow internet, or because it's a makeshift brothel with bedbugs and doors that don't lock.

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LupercaniusAB@reddit

I read reviews, but mostly I read the bad ones to see if they are legitimate complaints, or if the reviewer is an idiot. Anyone can get good reviews, I want to see if the bad reviews are real or stupid. Also, I check the dates on the reviews. Sometimes a business will have a crappy employee, and that person leaves or gets fired. So if a company has bad reviews from eight years ago, but more good reviews recently, I might try them out.

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ChuushaHime@reddit

I prefer the 3-4 star reviews because they are more nuanced. "Food and service were good and the price was right, I'd definitely go back! But I hope they fix the acoustics so I can better hear the people sitting next to me" is more valuable to me than a slate of perfect five star reviews or a one-star review from someone who's just pissed off.

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ITrCool@reddit

I take reviews like a grain of salt unless pictures and evidence are shown as part of the review.

Reviews can be used to artificially inflate a business’s rating averages or drive down a business’s rating averages by a competitor or disgruntled employee.

In no way are they a good indicator of the place itself other than seeing it for yourself and learning from the experience.

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Bluemonogi@reddit

I wouldn’t call it a culture but I do check reviews for products I am going to buy or places I am going to visit that I might not know much about. The US is a big place. I might be going out of the area where I and my friends and family have shopped or traveled so can’t get personal recommendations. I might have a big selection of products or services to choose from so need to determine what is better somehow.

If you don’t use reviews in your area of the world how do you know if product A is better than product B. Do you just waste a lot of time and money?

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therealbamspeedy@reddit

I work 'fast food' and the quickest way to get management to confront an employee about what happened in a situation was to leave a bad review on google.

I know many of those people who leave reviews in my local area.

There are some people who only leave reviews when they had a bad experience. I've personally seen a bad review that was a very lopsided, altered version of what really happened.

There are employees or family/friends of the employees/owners who leave positive reviews to boost the score, or at least cancel out some of the 'fake' low scores.

And there are 'serial reviewers' who review every single business they go to as if they are some sort of 'local expert'. What's hilarious is when they have a specific complaint about the business and act like no other business has that same exact issue then.....a few months later have the same exact complaint about their competitors.

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Grombrindal18@reddit

I would be very unlikely to visit a new. restaurant that couldn’t manage at least a 4.0 on Google Maps. 4.5 if it’s in the suburbs/countryside.

When there are so many options, there’s no real reason to spend your money on mediocre businesses.

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abhainn13@reddit

Yeah, I don’t really read reviews, but if I’m looking at half a dozen different coffee shops within a 10 min walk, I’ll skip the lowest ranked ones and the ones with the fewest reviews and go for the highest rated places with the most reviews.

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802y@reddit

13 five star reviews > 2321 reviews with an average of 4.7

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Imaginary_Ladder_917@reddit

Maybe. I read a lot of book reviews and I’d prefer 2321 reviews averaging 4.7 to 15 five star reviews. In the book world, I think new authors get their friends and family to put in five star reviews. A full five star average is pretty suspicious. Honestly, I’d trust a 4.3 rating with 100,000 reviews even more when I’m deciding on a book to read. I am okay with fewer reviews on restaurants, though. Obviously they don’t have that kind of coverage.

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Mean-Math7184@reddit

Zero fucks given outside retail sales.

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eric39es@reddit

Many places offer free dessert if you drop a review on Yelp. I hope that answers your question.

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TheBimpo@reddit

Or a discount if you leave one on Google. It's super important.

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dotdedo@reddit

Pretty strong. I was once confronted by a business owner for posting a bad review there once. It was a fast food job and since I worked nearby, a manager let me take a free refill if I bought one there and then left back to work. I did this the next day and the owner got very angry with me and accused me of lying and stealing. I posted a negative review about it and then she freaked out more and tried to make me remove it.

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jackfaire@reddit

So strong that when I point out I don't care about reviews I'm the asshole for not letting someone else decide what my opinions are.

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MorrowPlotting@reddit

I find reviews to be pretty unhelpful, honestly.

First, businesses know how to game the review system these days, so I tend to discount especially positive reviews.

But then, some people are just miserable and hyper-sensitive, complaining about stupid, trivial things, so I tend to ignore especially negative reviews, too.

What’s left are middle-of-the-road, neither-good-nor-bad reviews, which don’t tell you much, by definition.

Basically, we’ve traded in critics and professional reviewers for individual customer reviews. Which sounds good, but really just has different drawbacks compared to professionals, not fewer.

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Professional-Pungo@reddit

My company did annual reviews, there was basically 3 options "Exceeded expectations, met expectations, did not meet expectations"

Every year for 7 years I got "Met expectations" and then I got laid off, during the lay off meeting thing they referenced some "bad" feedback I had gotten in the past, which threw me through a bit of a loop because I never heard about it until now and according to my performance reviews, I always did fine.

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Subject_Emu282@reddit

Giving reviews after a purchase is important because it helps other customers make informed decisions based on real experiences. Reviews also provide valuable feedback to businesses, allowing them to improve their products and services. By sharing your opinion, you contribute to a more transparent and trustworthy shopping experience for everyone.

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Outlaw_Josie_Snails@reddit

I read reviews for products and services. I have written a few reviews as well.

However, I take reviews with a grain of salt. There are many fake reviews that are written to prop up a business. There is an entire industry of "brokers" and foreign workers who are hired to write fake reviews. These "click farms" are located in Asia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

I am fairly good at determining which reviews are legitimate versus fabricated.

For some services, such as home improvement contractors, I will rely on word-of-mouth from locals in my community.

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Cerulean_IsFancyBlue@reddit

It’s important to some consumers and less important to others. I even have a few friends who are kind of obstinate about it and have this weird reverse snobbery about places with high reviews.

On the business side, it is very important. You can’t get by just on the people who don’t read reviews.

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rando24183@reddit

If I'm visiting a new city, I absolutely will select a restaurant based on reviews. In big cities where I might have dozens on options, I gotta narrow it down somehow and rely on the wisdom of crowds.

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sgtm7@reddit

I read reviews for any business I plan on doing business with.

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Knea_Grows@reddit

Reviews are critical. The US is capitalist, it's basically economic darwinism, survival of the fittest business. The establishments with the best reviews thrive because everyone goes there. Bad reviews cause a business to fail. It forces business to compete with each other

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gksozae@reddit

I own vacation rental in a popular nearby resort. The star-rating is of EXTREME importance. Going from 5 stars to 4.8 stars often can mean a loss of 20% of my income. Going from 4.8 stars to 4.2 stars means my property would be unrentable and would require a change in management and a "restart" of the listing - as though it was brand new. This would mean hugely reduced nightly rental rates in order to get reservations and obtain new positive reviews.

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ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit

They're important. If three outwardly similiar restaurants are nearby, it only makes sense to see what previous diners had to say before you choice between them.

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EvilAceVentura@reddit

They are and they aren't? Sometimes they can swing a decision for me, but a lot of the time they can be nonsense or biased, both for or against. You sort of have to read between the lines a bit and make your own judgements a lot of the time. But then other times they can point out flaws that make you happy to skip them.

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Western-Finding-368@reddit

It’s very, very important in cities. Much less important in rural areas.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere. If I wanted Chinese food, I would go to the one and only Chinese restaurant within an hour of my family’s home. Reviews weren’t important because there was only one choice and everyone who lived nearby had been there many times and had made up their own minds.

Now where I live there are dozens if not hundreds of Chinese restaurants I could go to. We need a way to differentiate and choose where to go. That’s almost always going to be the place with the best reviews.

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AKA-Pseudonym@reddit

It's relatively recent thing. Now that we have sites and apps where everybody can review everything and those sites and apps are the way most people find businesses reviews have become very important.

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Dr_Watson349@reddit

It matter a lot.

If I see a restaurant with 2/5 stars or whatever the scale is, and a decent amount of reviews (500+) yeah this is no way im eating there.

If I see one with 4.9/5 and 5k reviews, yeah this is no way im eating there. But this time its probably because I cant afford it.

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Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit

Even before social media and/or the ability of individuals to opine on their experience with businesses in a particular format, there were (and still are) things like restaurant reviewers (e.g. local reporters, Michelin Guide (yes, not US, but the point is valid)) and consumer-oriented publications like Consumer Reports. So, I'd say it's strong here.

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Viper_Red@reddit

Very important. I work in digital marketing at an agency that specializes in the home services industry (plumbers, electricians, HVAC) and we constantly tell our clients to ask their customers for reviews. It’s partly because that helps with search results but also because people actually look at the reviews. Honestly, it was kind of a minor culture shock for me when I moved here to see people actually give a shit about the reviews

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rgd51@reddit

Very strong, whenever my girlfriend and I go on vacation anywhere in the country we check the Google reviews of the restaurants in the area and often base our choice on those reviews.

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Certain-Monitor5304@reddit

It's very important.