For my millions of adoring Blog fans, you all know that my passions include shopping, sports and Christmas. Somehow I find a way to include them in my blog posts as often as I can. Today is no exception.

Last week I was trolling around the Internet in search of the newest, fastest, style-friendly hair dryer. I was willing to spend some serious cash on an item that most people wouldn’t spend more than $20 for.  Then one happened to be featured on QVC as the Today’s Special Value—still a $180 hair dryer. How do you compete with that, especially when it says 5-Star customer-rated? I had to know more, so I went on line to order it! Ah ha, here’s the catch! There were almost as many 1-star ratings as 5-star ratings and for the first time in my shopping life, the low ratings won out and the hair dryer stayed in the QVC warehouse. Turns out I am not alone in my new-found use of consumer reviews.

According to a just released study from Weber Shandwick with KRC Research*, 65% of potential consumer electronics purchasers are inspired by a consumer review to select a brand that had not been part of their original consideration.

Key findings from the report:

• Buyers invest deliberate effort into making a well-informed decision, conducting multiple activities to gather opinions, reading an average of 11 consumer reviews, evaluating review authenticity and demonstrating tolerance for negative reviews.
• 88% of consumers say they are somewhat or very knowledgeable about consumer electronics, yet still consult reviews, when making a purchase.
• Consumers pay more attention to consumer reviews (77%) than professional critic reviews (23%). The gap between consumer and professional reviews closes noticeably for more advanced technologies like tablets and computers.
• In consumer reviews, the most helpful ones seem fair and reasonable, are well-written, and contain statistics, specifications and technical data.
• Shoppers trust consumer reviews on Amazon.com (84%) and BestBuy.com (75%) the most, topping Consumer Reports (72%).

The report offers several rules of engagement for consumer electronics marketers:

• Recognize that consumers visit shopping sites for reviews and information at various points in their buying journey, not just to check a price or to click and buy.
• To help address skepticism about the authenticity of reviews, adopt and publicly announce a policy restricting employees from commenting or contributing to customer reviews.
• Design product marketing pages using the format of a reviews site, not marketing collateral.
• An online community manager should be encouraging customers to review products, disseminating positive customer and professional reviews through social channels, and working in tandem with customer service to respond to customer feedback or issues quickly.
• Marketers should identify reviews with the potential to have the most impact and post them to their own product websites, online forums and social network.

In consideration of all the above radio advertisers take heed! Invite radio listeners who hear your spot to check out your consumer reviews! Invite them to post reviews or post questions. Imagine the level of trust with a company that shares as much good as bad. In my case QVC is a quality retailer. The hair dryer was by a top brand, but with a $180 price tag I appreciated that all opinions were shared, so I could make a fair decision. As marketers aren’t we obligated to inform consumers? Aren’t we obligated to maintain the trust?

If you have any questions or comments on anything I have said here, I would love to hear from you. Visit us at TheRadioAgency.com or come see us on Facebook.

I’ll be the one having the “Bad Hair Day!” 

*Source: The Center for Media Research, 01/16/12

Monica Caraffa is a Senior Account Manager at The Radio Agency. Please follow The Radio Agency’s Blog “Sounding Board” by subscribing to the email or RSS links above. Visit our website TheRadioAgency.com