Top Rated Or Best Seller?
In the fast-paced e-commerce industry, consumer reviews significantly influence our purchasing decisions. According to a survey conducted by a Korean marketing platform, 62.7% of respondents trust other consumers' reviews. Additionally, 78.3% believe they can discern fake or manipulated reviews. This shows that current consumers heavily rely on others' evaluations and effectively scrutinize reviews when making purchasing decisions.
According to global research firm Kantar, 63% of the top 50 global e-commerce sites actively utilize consumer cues. Top rated and bestseller.
These indicators, widely used not only on websites but also in advertisements, significantly impact the purchasing process. A joint study by researchers from the University of Louisville and the University of Illinois examined how these two types of information influence consumers differently based on cultural context.
The researchers hypothesized as follows:
Asian Consumers: In cultures that cultivate interdependent self-construal, such as those in Asia, where social relationships and harmony are emphasized, consumers tend to rely more on others to form their identities. Thus, they might attribute high sales to the fact that many people have bought the product rather than its quality. Therefore, they are likely to trust individual evaluations (ratings) more than sales quantity.
Western Consumers: In cultures that cultivate independent self-construal, such as the US and UK, consumers trust actual behavioral information (sales data) more than others' evaluations. They tend to believe people make choices based on their own judgment, hence the importance of knowing which products are widely chosen.
Key Findings
Asian consumers responded more sensitively to information about top-rated products. For instance, Indian consumers were willing to pay 28% more on average for top-rated products.
On the other hand, in countries with independent self-construal, such as the US and UK, consumers cared more about how many products were sold.
Based on Amazon data, bestselling products tended to have high ratings in the US, while this correlation was not as strong in India.
An analysis of a Brand Asset Valuator Dataset covering 8,700 products sold across eight countries indicated that in cultures with interdependent self-construal, such as Mexico and Korea, top-rated products significantly impacted brand value more than the number of products sold.
Marketing Tips!
For global e-commerce companies expanding into diverse markets, tailoring website design and marketing strategies to cultural contexts can be crucial. In countries like Korea, where consumer evaluations are highly valued, it is important to manage review information meticulously. Encouraging customers to write reviews through rewards can significantly boost sales.
While these two indicators might not have as strong an influence in independent self-construal countries like the US and UK, accumulating customer reviews is still essential. It helps in overall product improvement and provides valuable data for promoting sales.
Ultimately, understanding the cultural nuances in consumer behavior can greatly enhance marketing effectiveness and drive better business outcomes!
