Beyond The Stars
Why it's important to analyse customer reviews
Ratings and review sites like Trustpilot and TripAdvisor play an important part in consumer purchase decisions. Consumers read reviews to work out if they are likely to get what they pay for and whether it meets their needs. Brands also rely on these scores in their marketing to show how well they are trusted. How many adverts do you see where a brand gives its Trustpilot score as a way of instilling confidence in its products?
However, the simplicity of star ratings can often obscure the full customer experience. By focusing solely on these numerical metrics, brands risk missing critical insights that lie within the accompanying written reviews.
The whole story?
A five-star rating, for example, might seem like an excellent endorsement of a product or service. But without exploring the reviewer’s comments, brands may overlook subtle issues or areas for improvement. A customer may award top marks while expressing concerns about an aspect of their experience that didn’t detract from their overall satisfaction but could become a problem if left unaddressed. For example, a five star TripAdvisor review might mention how much the reviewer loved their hotel stay, yet highlight that the check-in process felt unnecessarily slow. Without analysing the review, the hotel would remain unaware of an operational inefficiency that could negatively impact future customers less forgiving than the one who wrote the review.
Similarly, lower ratings often fail to tell the whole story. A one-star review might suggest serious dissatisfaction but the accompanying explanation could reveal it was the result of a one-off issue rather than a systemic problem. Without this context, brands might overreact or misdirect resources attempting to address perceived problems that don't actually exist. For example, a Trustpilot reviewer might give a meal kit company a one star review but the real cause of their dissatisfaction isn't the quality of the food but the fact that the delivery was and hour late.
Stars and their causes
Another significant limitation of numerical ratings is their failure to capture the causes of their overall score over time. Written reviews, on the other hand, can offer valuable insights into evolving trends, emerging pain points or changes in customer expectations. Tracking the language and themes within reviews allows brands to anticipate problems before they become widespread or identify opportunities to differentiate their offerings.
It's also important to acknowledge that ratings on sites like Trustpilot and Amazon tend to coalesce at the top and the bottom of the scale with fewer 2,3 and 4 star ratings. But these middle ratings can actually be more important than five star or one star reviews because they offer more nuanced insight into areas for improvement.
How to stay ahead
The true strength of written reviews lies in their ability to reveal not just what customers think but why they feel that way. This is incredibly powerful for brands looking to understand the underlying motivations, frustrations and desires that shape customer behaviour. Advanced text analytics tools make it possible to analyse these reviews at scale, identifying patterns and themes that would be impossible to discern manually. For marketing teams, this means being able to craft more resonant messaging and campaigns. For insight teams, it provides a deeper layer of understanding to inform strategic decisions.
Relying exclusively on star ratings risks reducing the complexity of customer experiences to an oversimplified number. The interplay between ratings and reviews is where the real value lies.
By moving beyond the stars and unpacking the meaning behind customer ratings, brands can stay ahead of the market, address potential issues before they become problematic and create experiences that encourage customer loyalty.
