{"id":251013,"date":"2025-05-21T20:22:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T20:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/finance\/shopping-online-product-ratings-are-probably-fooling-you\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T20:22:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T20:22:40","slug":"shopping-online-product-ratings-are-probably-fooling-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=251013","title":{"rendered":"Shopping Online? Product Ratings Are (Probably) Fooling You"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Looks can be deceiving, and that\u2019s especially true with those ubiquitous ratings that accompany countless products online and in stores.<\/p>\n

The five-star rating system, for instance, is commonplace on Google and Amazon. Millions of shoppers rely on it every day to help them decide what to buy, and where. However, just-released research shows that the way the ratings are displayed \u2014 whether as a star or a numeral \u2014 can make a huge difference in how people interpret them.<\/p>\n

According to a new study<\/a> from Cornell University<\/a>, it all boils down to how our brains process visual stars versus numbers. Take a rating of 3.5, for example. In star form? Shoppers are far more likely to interpret it as four stars than its true rating.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhere there are three full stars and one half star \u2014 our brain automatically completes this half picture,\u201d Deepak Sirwani, a marketing professor and co-author of the study, said in a news release<\/a>. The marketing researchers referred to this as the \u201cvisual-completion effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, the opposite is true for numerals. We tend to round them down due to a so-called \u201cleft-digit effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the same rating is communicated using numbers, we focus on the left digit,\u201d Sirwani said. \u201cThat\u2019s why 3.5 feels more like a 3 than a 4.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study, which published Thursday in the Journal of Marketing Research<\/i>, included six experiments that gauged how people interpret, communicate and remember different displayed ratings, as well as whether the type of rating increase the likelihood of the person\u2019s willingness to buy an item. The researchers tested both star shapes and circles.<\/p>\n

In general, people overestimated visual ratings \u2014 aka ones with star icons \u2014 regardless of whether they ended in 0.25, 0.5 or 0.75. Across the board, visual ratings led to test shoppers being more willing to buy an item.<\/p>\n

Tips for checking reviews and ratings<\/h2>\n

The Cornell study is mostly good news for businesses. For shoppers, not so much.<\/p>\n

Visual ratings often lead you to inflate a product\u2019s true rating in your mind, which could translate into you shelling out money on something that doesn\u2019t meet your expectations. (We\u2019ve all been there.)<\/p>\n

Because of this phenomenon, you should pay careful attention to the format of ratings. Are they numbers, stars or some other shape? Maybe some combination of them? Try your best to verify the true numerical rating, if available, instead of inferring it from stars or other icons.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve found that out, it\u2019s worth it to dig a little deeper. Fake reviews have proliferated<\/a> online, but a few quick steps can help you determine fact from fiction.<\/p>\n