For online shopping, customer reviews are the most important decision criterion for many buyers. But can one also rely on them? German scientists have now compared more than 1,300 customer product reviews with the test results of the Stiftung Warentest. The result shows that the assessments of customers and testers are often far apart.
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In order to find out how customer ratings in online shops relate to the verdict of professional product testers, researchers from the University of Dortmund compared the test judgments of Stiftung Warentest for the study „Should We Reach for the Stars?“ (English: Should we reach for the stars?) 1,322 electronic products such as smartphones, headphones and toasters with the corresponding reviews on Amazon.
Rating very subjective colored
Only in less than a third of cases was the Stiftung Warentest test winner also the product with the best Amazon rating. In more than a third of the products, the estimates even contradicted each other: the Stiftung Warentest found the product very good, but the customers did not – or vice versa.
Product tests assess quality objectively
The German Stiftung Warentest is not surprised by the results of the study. Customers are often very emotional here. „Anyone who takes the trouble to write a review has mostly been delighted or annoyed about a commodity,“ said the consumer advocates.
The Stiftung Warentest, on the other hand, tested according to scientific and transparent criteria. You should also test properties that laymen could not even check for themselves, such as containing pollutants or susceptibility to hacker attacks. As an objective criterion to estimate the quality of a product, the star ratings from Amazon are therefore not suitable.
What you can read from Amazon reviews
According to Stiftung Warentest, the customer reviews nevertheless provide useful information – for example on the suitability for everyday use of the products. The consumer advocates advise but to look very carefully and not be blinded by the stars displayed.
The negative reviews should look for matches. If several users complain about the same defect, this is an indication of a weak spot in the product. In principle one could believe negative evaluations more, positive ones would be manipulated more frequently.
Be careful with particularly long reviews. This is an indication of a paid review, because usually buyers have little time and keep short. The British consumer organization Which revealed recently that even Amazon reviews with the words „Verified Purchase“ are not always genuine.
