"It should come as no surprise that a vast majority of us trust our friends' recommendations about products or services, but according to a study, a strong majority also trust the product reviews of anonymous online commenters.
These are some of the findings of a study from the book Groundswell, by Forrester Research analysts Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, highlighted in a post on the book's blog this week.
According to their study, 83 percent of respondents believe in friends' recommendations, a number higher than those who put stock in newspaper, magazine, or TV reviews (75 percent).
More surprising, perhaps, is that 60 percent of the respondents said they trust online reviews left by complete strangers on retailers' sites.
And why do people take the word of those they've never met?
"They don't--not as individuals," Bernoff wrote. "But they do in groups. Strangers are assumed not to have an ax to grind. If 100 people on eBags say a laptop bag is great, then it is great. If they say it's inferior, then it is inferior.""
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