The J Curve: No, it's not the Jolie Curve
Has anyone heard of the “J Curve"? I think it is an interesting concept and term referenced by the team at BazaarVoice-- a reviews technology provider.
Here is a snippet from their blog.
"We’ve talked to several advisers and prospects who expect to see a “U” shape in the distribution of their review submissions by ratings. In other words, there should be an equal number of “1” ratings as there is “5” ratings, displaying the extremes of customer opinion. We weren’t sure what to expect when Bazaarvoice got off the ground a year ago. We didn’t know what to expect then, but we do now.
Across many clients in diverse industries this “U” curve turns out to be more like a “J” curve…almost a reverse "L". The average rating across all clients is 4.3 out of 5 stars. The distribution looks like a J, where there are more 1s than 2s, but far more 4s and 5s than the lower ratings."
It's an interesting topic for all of us. Why is this? I would have initially thought that people would spread the word about bad experiences. But, it's not the case. Perhaps customers are interested in sharing their opinion about great products they buy because they want to get the word out. I know I really like to share all my positive experiences.
What's your point of view?
P.S. Welcome Patty! It's nice to see you here.
3 comments:
It's human nature to tend toward reviewing higher-rated products and to give higher ratings in general. For one thing, it takes a brave person to stand up in front of people and say "I bought this expensive piece of garbage." That can hold the reviewer up to ridicule. We all like to think that we can call a spade a spade but it's human nature to be shy about reporting some terrible mistake you made when buying something expensive.
I used to be an editor at a magazine responsible for coordinating product reviews. Our policy was that the reviewers were loaned the equipment by the manufacturer, specifically to avoid situations where someone bought a $10,000 item and didn't want to admit how bad it was in public. Can you imagine convincing your boss to buy a $10,000 widget, then telling the world it was a bad move? That would reflect badly right up the chain of command.
Another part of human nature is to not appear to be mean and giving negative ratings might be thought of as mean. And yet another part of human nature is the desire to be liked, and you can pretty much write off being liked by people who thing the product you just trashed is great. Heck, we've already seen a bit of gentle squabbling in this blog regarding Macs vs. PCs. If you dump on either of these camps, the dumpees are going to snap back.
Bottom line is that it is human nature for the ratings to creep higher. Realizing that and compensating for it are things we will have to do as reviewers.
Bob
I agree with that, Bob. Reviewing movies, I'm asked to rate them good or bad, and have my choice of movies to go to. Well, I keep rating them good, because I'm only choosing to see movies that look interesting to me. I don't see every movie, just one a week or so, so that one is going to be one that I'm looking forward to seeing, increasing the chances that I will like it.
I lots of times go into a review not exactly sure what rating I will give it especially if it is borderline. I think I use more products that I like but I am very quick to also review something I hate.
What I see from other reviewers are ones who don't like the product based on customer service and that's the rant we read about. Rarely do I read a comprehensive review about a product someone doesn't like. It seems to me that there isn't the understanding that just because you don't like it doesn't mean the consumer shouldn't understand how the product works or even what it does. Just my perspective on this. jo
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