If you are used to consulting Amazon reviews to decide your purchases, be aware that not all reviews are unbiased. Friends, relatives and reviewers paid by the manufacturer or author could leave 5-star reviews, while enemies and rivals could hope to damage the reputation of an object by leaving reviews with a single star; all without revealing their prejudices, positive or negative, and any financial incentives. How is it possible to understand if a review hides partial reasons?
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Spot a Fake Review
Step 1. Evaluate the length and tone of the review:
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If the review is very short, it may be false. If the writer simply wants to influence the overall score, his intent could only be to vote through the "star" system, to raise or lower it. However, since it is also necessary to write a comment, the latter could be very short, of 4 or 5 lines at most.
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If the review is vague and doesn't offer enough details about the product, it may be false. The use of general concepts, in fact, could apply to different products and not just the one reviewed.
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Step 2. Check if the review uses emotional language
An objective review will typically summarize and criticize the content or features of the product. A partial review, on the other hand, will skip this process.
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If the review was written for a friend, the book or object could be described with words as fantastic, suitable for everyone, spectacular etc. The reviewer might also add that he plans to buy one for everyone for Christmas gifts.
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If the review was written by an enemy or a rival, however, the object could be defined as pathetic, ridiculous and a waste of time. The reviewer could recommend an alternative product that '' has more credibility '' or that will surely like it more.
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Step 3. Check if the user has written other reviews
If the person does not write reviews regularly, their opinion may have been studied at the table. See the '' View all my reviews '' section next to the user's name: you may find that he hasn't left any other reviews, or that he has only written a few and vague ones (for friends) or criticisms (against rivals).
Step 4. If the user has left many reviews in a short time, be careful
If a reviewer gets paid to leave bad reviews, they could write a large number of them in a short time, typically for the same type of product. Check the '' See all my reviews '' tab, located next to the user's name, to view the other items reviewed and to find any similarities.
Step 5. Be skeptical if the review admits bias
The reviewer himself might admit that he hasn't read the book or tried the product - what is his opinion based on? The user may have the intention of improving or lowering the stars of the product without leaving a substantial review. Sometimes a review with a few stars will list a few, brief reasons against the object, or will mention a theme in the book that is found unpleasant, without proving that it has really tried the product or read the book.
Step 6. It might be useful to check if the user has really purchased the item
You can check it by looking for the orange '' verified purchase '' under the stars and the name of the user.
Method 2 of 2: Rate and React to Reviews
Step 1. Don't consider the highest and lowest reviews
Read what users who have left intermediate evaluations have to say, you will probably be able to get a better idea of the product.
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One-star reviews are always suspicious, especially in the case of a book by a famous author or publisher. In today's competitive market, there are very few books that are bad enough to deserve a simple star.
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Step 2. Read more than one review and always think for yourself
Does the review sound like an overprotective mother would use? Or does it look like a slander spread by an old high school enemy?
When reading a review, don't be swayed by your own judgment; it does not matter if you agree with the user's opinion or not, instead evaluate whether the review appears thoughtful, fair and well written. Even those who do not agree with you could express a sensible opinion, which deserves to be considered '' helpful ''
Step 3. Leave feedback to help other readers
If you think a review is helpful and objective, click on the '' Yes '' button next to '' Was this review helpful to you? ''. Doing so will help increase the reviewer's credibility. If you decide instead that a review is not objective or could have other hidden purposes, click '' No '' to lower the user's status.
Advice
- If a review includes spam, abusive language, or words contrary to Amazon's review policy, click the “Report Abuse” link (above the Yes / No button next to the question “Was this review helpful to you?”). In this way you can report the content as inappropriate and express the reason if you prefer; Amazon staff will evaluate the review and take the actions they deem most appropriate.
- Evaluate the reviews curve of the object you are evaluating, especially if there are many.
- Remember the bell curve of the statistics lessons? If not, you can always look it up on Wikipedia to refresh your memory. The stars in a product will likely have a bell curve (actually a semi bell curve) if the product is valid. It is a mathematical expression of the old saying '' You can't make everyone happy ''.
Warnings
- If the curve has a handlebar shape, it means that the product is generally good, apart from some quality control problem that could have resulted in a failure.
- Finally, if most of the reviews are predominantly, or almost exclusively, one or five-star, it means that the product is particularly poor, or particularly good.
