perplexed by some customer reviews.....

[Ozwell Wayfarer]

While I have been away, I received a number of purchases and reviews in my store which is always nice, but I have noticed a strange pattern emerge which I have never seen in SL before and I would like to hear other users take on it.

Now, for the record, I would never dream of asking a customer to amend a review that they felt was just and correct or anything like that. In SL, I have never received anything lower than 5 star reviews, but here in Kitely I have received quite a few 4 star reviews from seemingly happy customers, and I don't know quite what’s going on. All the comments contain zero criticism for the products and many even say how great they are.

I would not mind, if it was not for the strange way MP handles reviews. I don't think customers realize the potential damage they cause by doing this (obviously, with the best intentions at heart).

A good example is my pine trees.

http://www.kitely.com/market/product/26 ... ar=2677335

So, previously, this product was on the first page of the “top rated” filter with three 5 star reviews (and I was proud lol), however today I received a 4 star review from a seemingly happy customer, pushing the average down to 4.8. The effect of this is to push the listing off the front page and onto the 7th page, even below products with only one 5 star rating! Needless to say, I cant help but feel a bit sad about that. In SL people generally (in my experience) only leave less than 5 stars if there is an issue with the product. 3 stars if its serious and lower if they had a really bad experience. Are people using the rating system differently here? The implication of a 4 star review to me is that there is something I could do to make the product better, but if that's true, my customers give no hint of that in their comments.

So, I would love to get peoples opinions here. Is it worth me approaching my customers and explaining this, or am I just being a big baby?

[Dundridge Dreadlow]

Different people interpret star ratings in different ways.
Some people rate "3" as good, others 4 or 5 for the same thing.
Some people rate "4" as very good, like it a lot, and only give "5" stars for something absolutely flawless with no possible room for improvement.
Some would rate "5" as something there is no way I can do myself, and "4" for that's good, it saved me hours of work.
Some people use a completely different scale

..It's all down to interpretation..
(yeah, I know it doesn't help)

[Constance Peregrine]

I dunno, but if I personally go to the trouble of buying something, and even further to doing a review [which I actually have only done 1 or 2 of...just due to it being a passing purchase kinda thing] I do the 5...don't know why I would do less as if I was in some way dissatisfied I would contact the creator first.

otoh, what DD said...

[Ozwell Wayfarer]

I had also considered the same thing as you mention Dundridge, I just find it a little strange the volume I have received in Kitely since I never had a single 4 star in SL and have sold to probably thousands of people. I once got 3 stars, but after a little customer service, that was amended without any duress.

Personally (and I would not wish to offend any of my customers) due to the way the marketplace tally's reviews, I would prefer no review at all to a 4 star (that sounds horrible I know, I am speaking purely from a practical business perspective). I appreciate the sentiment behind every positive review but in this case, it causes the merchant more harm than good. Not only does it push the product way down the relevance and rating filters, but also only when people take the time to read the review will they realize that there was actually no problem at all.

Also, from my perspective as a merchant, anything less than 5 stars is a call to action. Go help that person, something is not right. Something needs to be done to make that person happy.

Then I find out.....actually, there's nothing I can do.

[Dot Matrix]

This is a tricky situation.

I admit that I would prefer to reserve 5 stars for "outstanding", and use 4 to mean "very good" or "good", 3 to mean "good" or "reasonable/usable", 2 to mean "rather poor", and 1 to mean "avoid buying".

If one gives everything that is good or reasonable 5 stars, the result is grade inflation and the more subtle messages that potential customers might appreciate are lost.

Speaking more generally now, all sorts of factors might lead me to give a slightly lower rating. Things like perceived value for money (comparing items with others for a similar price), lack of clarity in use, or lack of choice of perms come into play.

(Ozwell, to be completely clear, I do not think these latter factors apply to your store.)

Perhaps the issue is more one of weighting and ordering. What if there were a choice to order by "number of reviews" rather than (or as well as) average star weighting?

[Dundridge Dreadlow]

I also hate to say this, and I apologise in advance..
Merchants saying "rate me 5, or it hurts business" doesn't sound very good to customers and might make them less likely to rate higher.

..some people might even be rating based on the accuracy of the description..

Personally, I tend to read any reviews and assume anything with over 3 or 4 (depending on number of reviews) is probably going to be pretty good. I also have to agree with Dot, 5 stars reserved for outstanding.

Customers are unlikely to be paying any attention to any business model, and react emotionally instead of rationally, it is their money after all.
(sorry)

[Sherrie Melody]

I've just recently had an experience as a customer in which I both felt offended at being rebuked for what I thought was a high rating and quite nice review and horrified that my review apparently caused a complete stop to sales of a product after my review. I rated the product as 4 stars, indicated that it was attractive, indicated that the *only* thing I would have preferred was if it had X feature. I received IMs from the creator who was clearly offended and I was stunned because I had rated it a 4, to me a high rating, and spoke well of the product.

In a 5 star rating method, I have always treated it pretty much as Dundridge indicated, 3 means I liked it, 4 means I really liked it, and 5 means I'm in love with it. In response to your statement:

I would prefer no review at all to a 4 star (that sounds horrible I know, I am speaking purely from a practical business perspective).

In Kitely, we are a small community, and I have a big preference to just review those items that I love and want to give a 5 star rating, but the web site doesn't give me that choice. Along with big yellow blocks for blog entry links, I get a big yellow block for every product I buy that insists I review the product. Every single time I log in, I have to manually close those blocks to get the screen landscape back to reasonable. It's a PITA. I would have never even rated the product I mentioned above if it hadn't been for those annoying prompts, and if I am going to rate something, I need to be honest about it. And obviously, in my case, I actually thought 4 stars was a great rating.

[Ozwell Wayfarer]

Your right of course Dundridge and there is no need to apologize. I also did try my best to apologize in advance in my initial post because I am well aware that there may be an element of narcissism at play here on my part.

The main point for me I said earlier, I feel like I need to do something to make that person happier somehow. I know that feeling also may be a misplaced one.

Dot raises a good point about weighting the searches slightly differently.

This is a tricky situation.

I admit that I would prefer to reserve 5 stars for "outstanding", and use 4 to mean "very good" or "good", 3 to mean "good" or "reasonable/usable", 2 to mean "rather poor", and 1 to mean "avoid buying".

I also agree that this is the way it should be. Outstanding is what I aim for

But in SL, people tend to only review if they love or hate the product. Maybe I am just surprised to see people using the system in a sane way

[Ozwell Wayfarer]

In Kitely, we are a small community, and I have a big preference to just review those items that I love and want to give a 5 star rating, but the web site doesn't give me that choice. Along with big yellow blocks for blog entry links, I get a big yellow block for every product I buy that insists I review the product. Every single time I log in, I have to manually close those blocks to get the screen landscape back to reasonable. It's a PITA. I would have never even rated the product I mentioned above if it hadn't been for those annoying prompts, and if I am going to rate something, I need to be honest about it. And obviously, in my case, I actually thought 4 stars was a great rating.

Really? Wow, I was totally unaware of that. Now it kind of makes sense, if your prompted to review every product you purchase. Thats crazy. Thank you for making me aware of that Sherrie.

[Sherrie Melody]

Really? Wow, I was totally unaware of that. Now it kind of makes sense, if your prompted to review every product you purchase. Thats crazy. Thank you for making me aware of that Sherrie.

At the same time, keep in mind that at least some people, like me, think of the 5-star rating differently than you do. 4 stars in my book is very good and 3 stars in my book is not bad. If I give you a 4 star rating, in my book, I am most definitely complimenting you.

What is bad, it seems, is that the market treats one 5 star rating as more valuable than multiple 5 star ratings plus one 4 star rating. One person rating a product as 5 stars means absolutely nothing to me as a customer, unless I personally know the person that gave the rating. Especially in the SL marketplace, I'm afraid when I see one or even two 5-star ratings, in the back of my head I half figure it was an alt or friend of the creator.