Peer reviews influence online shopping

According to a study review by emarketer about 80% of user who look up online information about products and services rely to some extent on other consumers opinion.

While shopping online another study states that pricing is still a major issue (79.3%) for consumers, however Consumer Reviews (29.6%) and Recommendations (27%) are higher in importance than editorial reviews (21.3%).

The required number of reviews in order to stimulate purchase finds it peak at around 4-7 reviews (46%).

Sources: Opinion Research Corporation, June 24, 2008
Service Excellence Research Group (ServiceXRG) “Influencing the Online Experience”, InQuira-commissioned, Marc 4, 2008
the e-tailing group, “Merchant and Customer Perspectives on Customer Reviews and User-Generated Content, comissioned by PowerReviews, February 2008