About two-thirds of US consumers have reviewed or recommended a local business through word-of-mouth in the past year, making this the leading method for recommending local businesses, according to the latest annual Local Consumer Review Survey from BrightLocal. But while social and review sites are less commonly used, more than 9 in 10 read online reviews to determine whether a local business is good or bad, with half claiming to do so regularly.
Interestingly enough, those who read online reviews are far more likely to use a search engine (63%) to find them than to go directly to a review site (37%).
Whatever their means of getting there, most consumers need to read between 2 and 6 reviews before they feel they can trust a business, and a majority will look at 2-3 review sites before making a decision about a business. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.com.
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