BrightLocal has released their Local Consumer Review Study,  as part of their key findings, 68% of the surveyed consumers say positive reviews made them trust a local business more. The survey targeted the North America market and had a total of 2,354 consumers respond with 90% of the completed surveys from the United States and 10% from Canada.

11 Other Key Findings:

1. 43% of consumers search at least once per month for a local business (up from 38% in their 2014 study), nearly 1 in 3 people surveyed search local companies at least once a week
2. The percentage of people surveyed who search every day for local businesses increased from 7% in 2014 to 14% in 2015
3. Only 8% of consumers ‘don’t’ read online reviews (down from 12% in 2014)
4. Consumers are still predominantly looking at reviews on local businesses using their PC (73%) however 38% looked at reviews on their mobile devices and 24% examined reviews on a mobile app (Consumers were allowed to select more than one option) 
5. Restaurants, cafes, doctors, dentists, clothes shops, hotels and B&Bs are key businesses consumers are searching for reviews on; apartments did not appear to be included as a choice in their survey
6. 73% of consumers form an opinion by reading 1-6 reviews (up from 64% in 2014), only 12% read 10 reviews or more (down from 16% in 2014)
7. Not surprisingly average star rating was the biggest factor consumers look at, (60%) in the survey they were able to choose up to 2 options with the quality of reviews ranking second overall (44%)
8. If a business has a one- or two-star rating, only 13% of consumers will consider using it; if a  business has at least a three star rating, it jumps up to 57% and 94% of consumer say they would use a business with at least a four star rating 
9. Only 20% of consumers do not ever trust reviews as much as a personal recommendation (down from 33% in 2010). Consumers are also more likely to trust the reviews if they believe they are authentic (increased from 22% in 2014 to 31%)
10. 69% of the respondents also say a review must be written within 2-3 months to be relevant, highlighting how important it is to connect with your customers so they will leave meaningful reviews
11. 48% of consumers visit a business’ website after seeing positive reviews highlighting the opportunity to lend more credibility to your business by posting your customer reviews directly onto your website using ReviewPush

Check out the full survey and let us know in the comments what stood out to you.

Lee McNiel