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Poor Reviews and Influence

Do poor product reviews and negative posts genuinely influence your decisions to purchase, or do you just chalk them up to opinion ?
Ever been interested in a product then balked at buying after reading some negativity?
 

rockviper

I got moves like Jagger
Atrocious reviews of Joshua Tree shave soap have actually made me WANT to try the product.
It really can't be as bad as they say, can it? :letterk1:
 
Depends on the negative review.

If there a half dozen complaining about the same problem, I assume its either true or an obstacle they couldnt overcome.

If theres a couple dozen....well I think the product might have an issue.
 
For me, I like to see details for both a positive and negative review, for one to explain/describe why a product has not met their expectations etc. This would allow one to assess as to why a negative view was given.

If there are further comments from more individuals with details, only then would I be thinking harder not to try/buy.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I read all positive and negative reviews. I want to know the "why" as well as the "what". What might be a negative aspect for someone else, might be a positive aspect for me, and vice versa.

People singing the praises of the Fatip Grande, put me off it. What they saw as positive, I didn't. I recently was PIFed on, and have been sharing the progress in my journal here. It turned out to be pretty much how I expected - not for me.

On the flip side, I saw some negativity about a Razorine on here, mentioning blade alignment, and showing photos that didn't look as bad as what I thought the words implied. It was that review that got me interested in the razor, and I plan to get one next year. I should add that I have also since read some very encouraging reviews too.

So it's all in the detail as to whether I think someone else's review (positive or negative), would yield the same results for me.
 
Do poor product reviews and negative posts genuinely influence your decisions to purchase, or do you just chalk them up to opinion ?
Ever been interested in a product then balked at buying after reading some negativity?


very interesting post!

why do you pose such a question??
 
"Your Worst Shave Product" "What Purchase Do You Regret" threads got me to wonder.

People don't often say "don't ever buy this" as often as just posting their experiences and leaving it at that.

But do they indirectly give people second thoughts or is just interesting reading?
 
I just chalk it up as someone's opinion and take it with a grain of salt. Theres so many things in life that are mostly a matter or personal preference and personal opinion that even if I read a few bad reviews, it really doesnt sway me.
 
Depends. Reviews such as "Great brush! My first...." are meaningless. Negative reviews here carry some weight. Particularly so by longstanding members of the forum. So do positive ones. The devil is in the details.
 
I'm interested in all opinions, but I make the final evaluation and decision.

I'm also aware quality people can sincerely disagree on politics, religion, and [gasp!] even razors and shaving techniques!
 
I like TREET Black Beauties in my slant razors. Some people don't like 'em. I do. YMMV with 'em like every product. You are the one using them. What I like or what the masses like may not be your cup of tea, it comes down to what works for you, eh?
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
I have been influenced in the past by negative reviews especially if the product has a lot of them. These days I TRY to be more objective and weigh up both sides of reviews and TRY to make a better decision.
 
It depends greatly on the source. On Amazon I am very leery of reviews. I read the reviews, or a least a bunch of the newest ones if they have too many. In a lot of cases, the users lack of knowledge of the product becomes abundantly clear in the reviews, or their inability to try to rectify shipping damages, or at least not report whether anything was tried and/or done to make them a happy customer. OTOH, a large number mentioning a deficiency or new feature I would pay some head to.

On B&B, if I saw a review on something I am thinking of purchasing, I would try to find previous reviews of theirs about products I use, or ask questions in the thread to determine if concerns/wants are the same. This is what I had done before purchasing my S-brush. I like boar brushes, but wanted a synthetic, and really didn't care for any I had tried (in a pass around).

Also, overtime you develop a sense of whose opinions you value, and about which subjects, on Forums.
 
It really depends on who is giving the opinion. If it is an experienced shaver that through his posts knows what he is talking about, then I may be influenced by his review. For example, I love the old formula Haslinger and when I heard they were reformulating the soap, I bought some extra pucks. However, had I seen Marco's review that the new formula was just as good, then I probably would not have loaded up with the old pucks. However, the same review from a newbie would not carry much weight.

I also pay attention to what is said about a product. I am not impressed by comments such as I love ____ razor in contrast to a cogent discussion about what makes this razor a good one.
 
Of course, the reviews I respect the most are the ones which echo my own narrow minded and biased views. Those are just stellar! Tee hee.

While I am reading this as 100% tongue in cheek, for something as subjective as scents I will often check a reviewer's history to see how similar our views are on common products. If they tend to like scents that smell like a dumpster fire extinguished with skunk excretion (to me), I am likely to take a pass on any recommendation they make.

That said, I agree...I find that of all the reviewers I have ever read, the only person I agree with 100% of the time is myself. There are some amazingly intelligent people who tend to agree with me though and I do tend to give more weight to their opinions as a result.
 
That said, I agree...I find that of all the reviewers I have ever read, the only person I agree with 100% of the time is myself. There are some amazingly intelligent people who tend to agree with me though and I do tend to give more weight to their opinions as a result.

Your lucky, I don't agree with myself 100% of the time :em2100:

Though generally something significate had to happen to cause the flop.

This made me think of this thread. :)Dunning–Kruger Effect
 
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