Image courtesy of Flickr user Carson Ting.
It’s a dynamic you’ve probably witnessed and one that is substantiated in recent studies: when conversations in online product forums start to skew negative, they tend to stay that way.
One potential solution: provide incentives for more casual customers to post reviews.
As online forums become more populated, “customers who are more positive and less involved tend to stick to the sidelines, while customers who are more involved and more critical take their place.” That’s according to Wendy W. Moe, David A. Schweidel and Michael Trusov, writing in the Fall 2011 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review. It’s those critical customers who steer the ratings environment.
One intriguing lesson for social media strategists is to encourage the less involved to post, say the authors. How? “If you’re trying to foster a positive tone, incentives for posting reviews should be provided to the more casual customers.” (On the other hand, they write, do not give in to the temptation to post artificially positive reviews.)
The four lessons for managers who are listening to social media, according to the article: Don’t forget about the silent majority. Remember that social dynamics in the forum can influence who remains silent. Don’t overreact to negative feedback. And ignore the white noise. “A careful statistical analysis of ratings dynamics can help identify when a marketer should address an issue raised by a negative comment.”
For more tips, see the full article, “What Influences Customers’ Online Comments.”
Posted in: Social Business
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yeah.Never overreact for a negative comment.And Never remain silent too for a negative comment..Try to answer the member with a positive attitude saying that he could be wrong or sincerely apologize him if it is really mistake from our side.Always try to be a better Manager not by your degree but by your Attitude..
Thanks and regards,
swarup reddy,
email: swarupreadyk@gmail.com
website: http://www.allreviewz.com
Good article. Never ceases to amaze me how people behave in commenting sections.
I am doing a little research at the moment on the differences between commenting and Q&A platforms. Have you ever come across an article / report that covers the psychology behind commenting v’s Q&A platforms? Why people use them? What are their real motives? What are the differences?
From the user behaviour on our Q&A platform for colleges, we see some very obvious differences. But I would like to see if this is supported by independent research.
Any advice / recommendations:
email: john@learnpipe.com
web: http://www.learnpipe.com
Thanks, John
Very interesting concept – most forums at the moment implicitly reward those who post the most, eg with post counts or classifications which get more “senior” as the post count rises. So, I guess you get a negative spiral where the vocal are encouraged and the quiet feel ever more excluded.
That probably accounts for some of the extreme polarisation you often see, too – the more thoughtful section of the population are maybe just not getting represented!
Kate
RM Social Media Ltd
We finally figured this out a couple months ago:
–People love to voice the negative, but the minority voice the positive.
It has to be encouraged, and the environment you create for them has to help it come out.
Give incentives, awards or simply ask them. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to get positive reviews by just asking
- Dwayne
Albany Oregon Real Estate Agent
http://www.valleyoregonhomes.com/linn-county/albany-oregon-homes-and-real-estate/