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This is probably one of the most important issues.
Although users have opinions (as their expectations are either met or not, see “Expectations, Subjectivity, Standards & Risks”), they often don’t know what to say about their experience. They have a feeling but don’t express it, even to themselves.
Part of the reason is that they don’t know what score to choose to accurately reflect their experience (see “Unclear scale” and “Nuances”). While they could still describe their experience in a comment, they often suffer from a blank-page syndrome.
It’s fine—people probably don’t have to review everything all the time (we’ll cover the problems it causes at the society level). Most people just want to go about their lives without constantly reviewing their experiences (see “Feeling bad judging people”). Despite this, businesses keep asking for feedback, and users still extensively check online reviews before purchasing anything. They expect others to give feedback while not knowing what to say themselves. We’re stuck.
The greatest signal a customer could give is coming back or not. This works for some industries (e.g., neighborhood services and shops), but not for all (e.g., the travel industry). A traveler passing through might not return, but that doesn’t mean their experience was bad.
That being said, we can probably help customers formalize their opinion when they have one.
- “Nothing to report” IS feedback. It means that most of the customer’s expectations were met. Was it a 4 or 5-star experience? They don’t know, but at least they didn’t have any issues, and that’s valuable information for the business and other customers.
- Suggestions are useful to help customers share something if they want to. This could be in the form of written prompts below the comment area (“You might want to mention the design of the product…”) or selectable options (“Great design,” “Good value for money”). Airbnb’s review flow, which asks guests what went well if the rating is 4 stars or above in a specific category and what went wrong if it’s below 3 stars, is a good example:
- Direct questions. Some surveys ask specific, closed questions to get feedback on a particular topic. If the question is too vague, users may not know how to respond, but if it’s specific, it’s easier.
- Confirm other reviews. Simply agreeing with a previous review is valid feedback. It doesn’t require much thought and is easy for customers to click (cf. “Time sensitivity”).
- Only recommendations. When someone likes a restaurant, they save it to their personal list, either mentally or on a tool like Google Maps or Mapstr. These top lists might serve as recommendations to friends and connections, and potentially to the wider community. Many people save places, movies, or books on their phone but don’t share these lists with their connections, even though it signals appreciation—without needing a review.
Unfortunately, that information is only available to the Host, and not to the guests reading the review…
This already exists as ‘likes’ on Google or ‘helpful’ on platforms like Amazon, but it’s not clear whether it’s approved by other customers or potential customers who found the review helpful. Platforms should clarify this information.
