Last week, in pulling some research for our newsletter on objection handling and demographic-based reviews, we were reminded of a study on the optimum review rating for conversions.
Contrary to what most DTC brands operate under, that number is not a 5.0 star rating. In fact, it can end up being closer to 4.0.
In a 2016 study in the International Journal of Advertising, researchers found that the probability of purchases actually increased with ratings in the 4.2-4.5 star range, then decreased.
Interestingly, DTC brands are only now shifting toward this rating range.
After holding steady at an average star rating north of 4.8 for more than two years, the average star rating on published reviews is now closer to 4.7. Part of this (or maybe most of this) is likely caused by the auto-publish rules that went into effect in late 2023. (You can see how quickly things drop then.)
For those who don’t remember “auto-publish rules,” this was a change made by Shopify that required Reviews providers to allow for the automatic publishing of all reviews—both positive and negative—as part of an effort to remain in compliance with the FTC’s guidelines for consumer reviews.
Counter-intuitively, though, this might be better for brands—at least according to the study, and also if you take a look at larger DTC brands and large retailers.
For a somewhat random, but also illustrative example, take a look at Dr. Squatch’s pine tar soap ratings, which is sold DTC, as well as on Amazon, Target.com and Walmart.com:
DTC: 4.5
Amazon: 4.6
Target: 4.4
Walmart: 4.5
Pretty tightly grouped, but also step functions lower than what we see above from averaging all brands in our dataset.
Glossier’s boy brow product is another example:
DTC: 4.4
Amazon: 4.5
Sephora: 4.0
Google Shopping: 4.5
Again, here, significantly below what we see in the chart above, but pretty tightly grouped again.
The takeaway here, it seems, is that we’re likely overthinking the negative consequences of negative reviews. The flip side is that the positive consequences of negative reviews are actually more powerful. Negative reviews can tell you who a product isn’t for, for example. But note that the review is for a product, not the brand.
Dr. Squatch has dozens of soaps that have different scents, grit levels, etc. Glossier has dozens of products with different functions. Maybe someone with sensitive skin is likely to find the grit level of Dr. Squatch’s pine tar soap too harsh. That could, in theory, lead to a negative review. And it could lead to someone not buying pine tar soap, because the grit level is too high. But the presence of that type of review might also guide the sensitive skin buyer to a littler grit soap from Dr. Squatch instead, which still leads to a purchase.
It’s OK to accept the negative review. It might just lead to a positive outcome.
 | A guest post by
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