Public Relations prof explores consumer review sites in “The New Review Economy”

The influence of third party review sites like Yelp, Trip Advisor and parts of Amazon and Google cannot be overstated. From where to order dinner, take a vacation, or buy a new cell phone, slow cooker, car or coffeemaker, someone, somewhere, has a review for it.

The New Review Economy (Taylor & Francis Group), a new book by Dr. Alison Novak, assistant professor of public relations in the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts, explores how pervasive the phenomenon of third party review sites (TPRS) has become, and how businesses – and consumers – can make the most of them.

Novak, who examines the history, power and prevalence of third party review sites, explores a 21^st century experience that most people take part in but few ever consider.

“About 80 percent of the population uses Yelp at least once a week,” said Novak, who teaches public opinion, Public Relations Case Studies and Public Planning (an undergrad capstone course) as well as graduate level Strategic Communication.

She said the idea of trusting others for information beyond what they see and hear in advertising has been around for generations. The origin of today’s third party review sites can be traced to mainstream publications like Consumer Reports, a magazine that for decades accepted no advertising and produced reviews that buyers relied on for countless products and services.

“The review platforms really started online in the late 1990s and early 2000s with ePinions,” Novak said. “Those early sites failed not necessarily because they were bad sites but because they didn’t figure out how to monetize their work. Google and Yelp did.”

Included in her study of TPRS are sections related to digital labor; trust, credibility and the power of reviews; “super reviewers”; advocacy; and best practices.

Novak said despite the popularity of review sites like Yelp and Amazon that dissect the pros and cons of virtually any product imaginable, consumers don’t always trust them, and for good reason.

“Sometimes the reviews are all you have to base a decision on but there’s a lot of evidence that people (and businesses) can buy reviews,” she said. “That’s also part of the micro economy.”

Novak’s book also addresses the issue of unwarranted negative reviews, which can mortally wound restaurants and other small businesses.

But negative reviews, even for small businesses, are not necessarily a bad thing, she said.

“Most of these platforms allow business owners to ask a reviewer for more information,” she said. “That tends to improve the reviewer’s opinion of the organization. Sometimes, negative reviews can also lead to changes.”

Novak, whose previous book on net neutrality addressed the government’s ability to regulate open or restricted internet access, expects wide appeal for The New Review Economy, especially because so much of the population is a part of it.

“To me it’s a resource for practitioners who want to understand what’s happening on these platforms, to know what Yelp, its reviewers and other third party review sites, are trying to do,” she said. “But it’s published through an academic press so my hope is it’s good for people who are learning to be practitioners.”