Online evaluation

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When online reviews are called lyrics, which give Internet users assessments of products, services and organizations.

The ability to exchange opinions and reviews has been around since the early days of the World Wide Web . A more recent phenomenon is websites that are completely geared towards receiving customer reviews. One speaks of review portals or consumer portals, which are available in almost every area of ​​products and services.

Since customer reviews often appear at the top of the search engine result lists, the company's marketing departments also have to deal with them. Again and again lawyers are assigned to take action against unpopular evaluations. The statements are subdivided into statements of fact and evaluations. Value judgments are fundamentally protected by freedom of expression , whereby the line is drawn where the rights of other people are deliberately violated.

Evaluation options on the Internet

The way in which reviews are submitted online continues to be new; the number of pages asking users to leave reviews is increasing. In addition to rating portals and online marketplaces, user ratings can also be found on social media pages, image boards or video portals for the shared content. They can often be rated in the form of comments and / or a star scale or by using a " like  " or " don't like  " button.

Review portals

One of the first review portals to attract attention on the German Internet was Ciao.de , a website of Ciao GmbH, founded in 1999.

Portals were later created in which evaluations of the work of teachers (see Spickmich ), professors (see MeinProf ) or employers can be submitted. There are also portals designed to include reviews of medical practices and law firms. A newer subgroup is made up of recommendation and feedback portals. Recommendation portals only publish positive reviews. Feedback portals also forward negative reviews to those affected without public exposure, as a suggestion for process optimization (see Testmybiz).

New opportunities arise when map services and review portals are brought together. For example, on Qype or frag-titus , you can view excerpts from city maps and submit reviews of all facilities that play a role in the relevant city area.

The idea of ​​evaluating employers via the Internet originated in the USA : the website jobvent.com is considered a pioneer here. In 2006, Jobvoting.de was the first website for job evaluations in German-speaking countries. A number of other websites have since been added. In 2008 in particular, media interest in these websites was high and found expression in reports in national newspapers, specialist magazines and the news channel N24 .

Reviews in electronic marketplaces

Today almost all online marketplaces have a usage rating section. At amazon.com , users can post reviews on books, DVDs and other products. At the online auction house eBay , it is of great importance for a seller's sales success that buyers give positive ratings.

Reviews as a marketing tool on the Internet

A study by Deloitte has found out why customer reviews are becoming increasingly important :

According to the study, 80% of purchase decisions are based on customer reviews, and over 70% of respondents said they pass on references to company reviews that appear online to family members and friends.

Legal disputes occur time and again due to reviews that are perceived as unfair.

Customer reviews as a competitive advantage from the supplier's point of view

In the USA there are marketing departments that are very concerned with customer reviews. It is often stated that the primary aim is not to get the best reviews, but that one is geared towards learning from negative criticism and having appropriate reactions ready. Rating system providers can make strategic decisions regarding the design of the system, for example to increase the number of ratings generated.

A study at Entrepreneur.com names three points that have to be taken into account if you want good customer reviews in the long term and create a competitive advantage. It is recommended

  • make the company a part of the customer's lifestyle and not just offer services,
  • respond to written feedback to each customer ,
  • Not to jeopardize the company's reputation with fake customer reviews.

use

According to a study by the industry association Bitkom, online ratings are the most important decision-making criterion for consumers when shopping online. Two thirds of online buyers (65 percent) use customer ratings in online shops as a decision-making aid before buying products. This puts online reviews ahead of price comparison sites like guenstiger.de (51 percent) and personal conversations with family and friends (50 percent). In addition, four in ten online shoppers (39 percent) have less confidence in offers or products for which there is no product rating. Just as many say that other shoppers' reviews reflect their personal assessment of the product they bought. And 45 percent write online reviews themselves, according to the survey. However, 19 percent of all online buyers also say that they generally do not trust the product reviews, as these can be falsified by the provider.

Criticism of credibility

Fake reviews

Fake reviews are statements of opinion or statements of fact that are not true and are posted on review portals. The limit of admissibility or inadmissibility of these evaluations is fluid.

Expressions of opinion, d. H. Evaluation elements of the statement are fundamentally permissible and constitutionally protected by freedom of expression , if they are not in the area of ​​formal insult or abuse. An example of this is: "The pizza is delicious". "Delicious" is a fact that there are no measurable relationships and it is therefore judgmental.

Assertions of fact, d. H. Statements that are accessible to evidence are only admissible and acceptable if they are true. If, on the other hand, they are untrue, the evaluations are vulnerable and the person evaluated can defend himself against them in various ways. An example of this is: "The pizza was cold". Whether the pizza was cold is a fact that can be proven by witnesses if the witness should have eaten or touched this pizza himself.

According to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice, the host provider has to check this fundamentally if he becomes aware of legal violations, otherwise he is responsible for the legal violation himself. He also has to clarify whether the evaluator was actually a customer or employee of the company, which the latter may also have to explain to the provider after a corresponding request. This applies even if only an evaluation was made without using the comment function, as the company's personal rights may also be violated.

Nowadays, Internet ratings are important for many customers, so that a fake rating has a significant impact on the buying behavior of potential customers and thus the success of a company.

Fake reviews are usually written or bought with multiple sock puppet accounts. Scientific studies suggest that fake reviews can be detected through the use of various strategies by customers. A comparison of reviews on several review portals with regard to differences in the reviews, incorrect information in the reviews, e.g. about the location or the product, the use of marketing or catalog language in reviews or a large number of reviews in a very short time can be an indication of fake reviews .

Review bombing

As Review Bombing mostly a lot of negative votes are called, which in response to an adverse change or development in a medium such as a computer game or television series have been created or morally reprehensible business practices and producers are calling for action. The overall performance is no longer evaluated, but only tries to make the product bad. This makes it a form of shit storm . Reviews can negatively affect popularity and sales. Some sales platforms are now taking action against review bombing or offer a histogram of the ratings for a better overview . Reverse Review Bombing, in which the product receives good ratings for a special campaign, can also falsify the overall ratings.

See also

Broadcast reports

literature

  • Mario Martini , a patient inspection for doctors? Evaluation portals as an innovative control instrument for health law, DÖV 2010, pp. 573-584; furthermore, doctors on the test stand, in: Hill / Schliesky (ed.), Innovations im und durch Recht, 2010, pp. 153–188.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ kundentests.com: The BGH warns! .
  2. ↑ Job voting online since 2006 "Personalwirtschaft Online-Check" ( Memento of the original from December 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / test.personalwirtschaft.de
  3. ^ Laura E. Wilker, Chris Rieck: New Deloitte Study Shows Inflection Point for Consumer Products Industry; Companies Must Learn to Compete in a More Transparent Age [1] (accessed August 28, 2014)
  4. ↑ Court rulings on reviews on the Internet , accessed on August 21, 2014
  5. ↑ Dominik Gutt, Jürgen Neumann, Steffen Zimmermann, Dennis Kundisch, Jianqing Chen: Design of review systems - A strategic instrument to shape online reviewing behavior and economic outcomes . In: The Journal of Strategic Information Systems (=  SI: Review issue ). tape 28 , no. 2 , June 1, 2019, ISSN  0963-8687 , p. 104–117 , doi : 10.1016 / j.jsis.2019.01.004 ( sciencedirect.com [accessed January 2, 2020]).
  6. ↑ Alexa Vaughn: Marketing in the Recommendation Age [2] (accessed on August 28, 2014)
  7. ↑ Teresa Tropf: Customer ratings are the most important purchase aid. In: www.bitkom.org. Bitkom, January 11, 2016, accessed on January 12, 2017 .
  8. ↑ dpa: Survey: Customer ratings are the most important buying aid on the Internet. (No longer available online.) In: www.bitkom.org. Bitkom, January 11, 2016, archived from the original on January 12, 2017 ; accessed on January 12, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Press release of the Federal Court of Justice. February 20, 2018, accessed December 21, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Online reviews and fake reviews on the Internet. Retrieved December 21, 2018 .
  11. ↑ BGH, Jameda II judgment of 01.03.2016. January 3, 2016, accessed February 21, 2020 .
  12. ^ LG Hamburg: LG Hamburg, judgment of 12.01.2018. LG Hamburg, January 12, 2018, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Wolfgang Mulke: How Dealers Buy Reviews. November 12, 2017, accessed on February 20, 2020 (German).
  14. ↑ Michael Möhring, Barbara Keller, Scott Dacko, Rainer Schmidt, Annika Lutz, Theresa Winkler, Sophie Gering: Reducing value co-destruction in Tourism: An exploration of consumer strategies to detect fake online service reviews . In: Evert Gummesson, Cristina Mele, Francesco Polese (eds.): THE 10 YEARS NAPLES FORUM ON SERVICE SERVICE: DOMINANT LOGIC, NETWORK & SYSTEMS THEORY AND SERVICE SCIENCE: INTEGRATING THREE PERSPECTIVES FOR A NEW SERVICE AGENDA . No. 5 . Ischia 2019.
  15. ↑ Steam 'Review Bombing' Is A Problem. Retrieved February 20, 2020 (American English).
  16. ↑ Steam adds histograms to address review bombing. Retrieved February 20, 2020 .
  17. ^ Review Bombing: The Invasion of Anger Reviews. December 16, 2017, accessed February 20, 2020 .