JoeWras
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2012
- Messages
- 11,702
The smart community here probably already knows all this, yet I wanted to bring something up again.
You all know that many, many reviews out there are done by regular people like us, but they get the products in return for free?
I am not speaking about the dishonest practice of having "professional reviewers" working on the sly. No, rather these are just regular Joes (like me).
And I literally mean me. I am one of these people. One day, I got a strange e-mail from one of the big box stores commending me on my excellently written reviews. They asked if I would like to join a program whereby I got to choose from a basket of products every few weeks, and my only obligation was to write a review: good or bad, just honest.
Sure!
It has actually been pretty lucrative. I've gotten some nice furniture and some useful small appliances. Oh, and a raft of other goodies like window cleaner, towels, etc.
So here's the thing: this process plays tricks on the mere mortal's mind. Let me tell you my experience. When I get a brand new grill, for instance, it feels like a "gift." In return, something in my brain makes it really hard to write down, "But it heats unevenly." Trust me, I did finally write that, but it was hard. This got me thinking that most of the time I even missed my bias. There's a bias out there. Then I read some of the other "club members" reviews and they are even more biased to the high end.
What I'm saying is we are not trying to be biased. Trust me. But it happens. It is insidious.
Now, the big box people emphasize they want honesty and we will not get kicked out for bad ratings. I believe them. But human nature kicks in.
Oh, I should mention something else. When you write a bad review (on any site, whether you are in a review club or not), the manufacturers are also playing a game with you. You will get brow-beated into submission to change your review. I'm learning to ignore those, but that is hard too. The best way I can state this is that it is similar to auto dealers who tell you they "need a 5-star review and contact us first before going lower."
I'm not in Amazon's program. It is called "VINES". The other retailers all have them too. Most are on the up-and-up and tagged with an icon or special text. Please be aware of them! We're really doing our best, but our brains are being manipulated. Really!
Finally, I want to say that I think this process must really be working. On my program, they've tremendouly increased the amount of product, and type of product. Manufacturers have learned that it works and is cheap advertising.
Happy on-line shopping. Be careful out there.
You all know that many, many reviews out there are done by regular people like us, but they get the products in return for free?
I am not speaking about the dishonest practice of having "professional reviewers" working on the sly. No, rather these are just regular Joes (like me).
And I literally mean me. I am one of these people. One day, I got a strange e-mail from one of the big box stores commending me on my excellently written reviews. They asked if I would like to join a program whereby I got to choose from a basket of products every few weeks, and my only obligation was to write a review: good or bad, just honest.
Sure!
It has actually been pretty lucrative. I've gotten some nice furniture and some useful small appliances. Oh, and a raft of other goodies like window cleaner, towels, etc.
So here's the thing: this process plays tricks on the mere mortal's mind. Let me tell you my experience. When I get a brand new grill, for instance, it feels like a "gift." In return, something in my brain makes it really hard to write down, "But it heats unevenly." Trust me, I did finally write that, but it was hard. This got me thinking that most of the time I even missed my bias. There's a bias out there. Then I read some of the other "club members" reviews and they are even more biased to the high end.
What I'm saying is we are not trying to be biased. Trust me. But it happens. It is insidious.
Now, the big box people emphasize they want honesty and we will not get kicked out for bad ratings. I believe them. But human nature kicks in.
Oh, I should mention something else. When you write a bad review (on any site, whether you are in a review club or not), the manufacturers are also playing a game with you. You will get brow-beated into submission to change your review. I'm learning to ignore those, but that is hard too. The best way I can state this is that it is similar to auto dealers who tell you they "need a 5-star review and contact us first before going lower."
I'm not in Amazon's program. It is called "VINES". The other retailers all have them too. Most are on the up-and-up and tagged with an icon or special text. Please be aware of them! We're really doing our best, but our brains are being manipulated. Really!
Finally, I want to say that I think this process must really be working. On my program, they've tremendouly increased the amount of product, and type of product. Manufacturers have learned that it works and is cheap advertising.
Happy on-line shopping. Be careful out there.