P3 C

P3 – Explore commercial uses for social media websites, including c) Product/service reviews

There are several advantages set out with the issue of user generated reviews and the influence of ‘personal recommendation’ for others purchasing products/ services. For instance, people are able to give their personal view to others on as to why they believe they should buy the product or not. For example, they may be able to give a descriptive review of the product and rate it on a ‘stars’ basis, so that they can see whether the consumer found it useful or not. Also, if there are any problems with the product or it is just not worth the consumers spending their money on it, these reviews can be very effective for advising other intrigued consumers to save their money from a faulty product.

Another clear advantage for this is associated with online sites such as Amazon, EBay, Trip adviser or Uber. Such sites allow for offering customer review systems which is clearly a huge advantage. As previously stated, a customer review system allows for any problems being stopped in advance for consumers, as they are warned by previous buyers who have experienced an issue with this site.

Shown is a clear example of how a review system can be used for online websites.

However, there are also several disadvantages with the issue of user generated ideas and personal recommendations for others online. One problem lies in the idea of a consumer giving a false review which is unjustified to the company’s usual standards. For instance, if someone gave a negative review online for a product which is usually rated of high standards, such a view may be harsh and will put off possible consumers for an unjust reason. This is considered unfair to the company as their standards may usually be very good.

A second problem with online company reviews is that they could be false. For instance, companies in the past have identified reviews on other rivalling sites, which have ultimately paid people to give their site a bad review as a way of attracting more consumers to their own company instead. This is clearly an unfair tactic to use within company rivalry and would ultimately be unfair to the genuine company’s which are stuck with false reviews on their page. A final disadvantage involves the idea of customer reviews allowing companies to give a false impression about themselves, which is another major tactic used within online review sites. This involves an employee or someone who is higher up in the company, writing their own review on the page in attempt to gain more consumers. This is clearly unfair as again, the company is given an unfair advantage when placed among various other selected companies.