How Should Brands Respond to Positive Online Reviews?

While businesses are widely encouraged to respond to negative online reviews, a new study finds responding to positive online reviews is more of a “minefield” and some should be ignored.

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business analyzed 10 years of online reviews of hotels from Trip Advisor and found the type of response widely depends on the critique.

Reviews were categorized in two ways:

• Instrumental reviews:  Focusing on the characteristics of a good or service and tending to be objective, informative, and unambiguous.
• Affective reviews: Emotional expressions about the customer’s interaction with a company and tending to be ambiguous and based upon an individual experience.

The reviews were then broken down based on whether they were one-sided (either positive or negative) or two-sided (both positive and negative).

Generally, when the positive reviews were not ambiguous and had high information value, tailoring the response to the review was found to be effective. In other instances, however, a templated response (canned or automated response) or not responding was found to be better.

For instrumental positive reviews, tailored responses were found to potentially come off as self-promoting or an “unnecessary interference to the information they are seeking, much like a pop-up ad may interrupt your web searches.”

For one-sided, instrumental positive reviews, a templated thank-you message was recommended. For two-sided (positive and negative comments) instrumental reviews, however, a more tailored approach addressing the criticisms and outlining the actions taken to mitigate the problem was suggested.

For one-sided, affective, positive reviews that involved more ambiguous feedback, a tailored response was recommended. For two-sided affective reviews, a templated response was found to be optimal, since tailored responses may unintentionally highlight negative experiences.

Researchers also warned that while bots are often handling today’s large volume of reviews, the cost-efficient templated response may be inadequate.

“A one-size-fits-all strategy will backfire,” said Chanaka Edirisinghe, Ph.D., acting dean of Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management, in a statement. “There are always unintended consequences and understanding them allows a company to act intelligently.”

Despite the findings, there are many advantages to responding to positive reviews, and many people advise businesses to do so.

Kerry Bridge, director of global web and content marketing at Bazaarvoice, said in a blog entry, “It’s a golden opportunity to build relationships with existing customers who took the time to offer feedback and to show potential customers that you’re actively listening and care about your brand’s reputation. It also reinforces the quality of your brand to both retailers and search engines.”

The Ohio-based law firm Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs wrote in a blog entry, “If a customer gave you a compliment in person, of course you’d thank them for their positive feedback. The same concept applies to online business reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook pages.”

Wasserstrom, the restaurant supplies provider, stated in a blog entry, “It may be MORE important to respond to positive reviews. By responding to positive reviews, you are demonstrating that you value your customers. And positive reviews give you a chance to toot your own horn a bit as well.”