Differing motivations and generational trends revealed; insights can guide brands on how to best cultivate user generated content to aid conversions and sales

User-generated content – ratings and reviews, and consumer submitted video, imagery and Q&A content – have been shown to be highly effective in maximizing conversions and sales, but how do brands go about cultivating consumer advocacy for competitive advantage?

To find out, PowerReviews conducted a survey of over 10,000 consumers to uncover the psychology and motivations behind product reviewers across four generations – Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Zers. The survey insights provide crucial insights into what motivates consumers to provide ratings and reviews and who are the most inclined to do so.

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Key findings include:

The highs and lows. A positive experience earns a product rating and review from more than 9/10 consumers surveyed, and a negative experience will motivate more than three quarters of consumers to share their experience.

First impressions must delight from Day One. Reviewers say overall product experience must be great right from the very first use. An overwhelming majority of consumers (76%) – and 83% of Gen Zers – leave a review within the first week of receiving an item. One-third of consumers say they’d post a review after only using a product one time.

Younger reviewers are more prolific. Some 56% of Gen Zers submit reviews more than once per month, compared to 47% of Boomers.

Free samples and fraternity. Free samples are a critical motivating factor for 86% of respondents, while incentives (reward points, discounts, etc.) are important for 76%. However, reviewers also have a benevolent side; 67% said “helping and guiding others” was a key motivation, and “helping a brand improve a product” was cited by 65%. Younger respondents – 77% of Gen Zers polled – were significantly more motivated to provide reviews for the purpose of helping others than older respondents.

The lure of exclusivity and the sense of duty. Some 85% of respondents said receiving a product before it’s available to the general public incentivized them to post a product rating and review. Coincidentally, 86% said they would be more likely to submit a rating and review for a product with low review volumes. This may indicate reviewers feel a sense of duty to provide feedback for the betterment of the consumer collective.

Motivations to respond to queries. Of those surveyed, 77% said a “desire to help and guide others” was the biggest motivator to provide answers to questions posed by other customers online. While “having a positive product experience,” and “having a disappointing product experience,” were the motivations behind 73% and 60% of those polled, respectively.

Rich media value propositions. Free samples and incentives had the greatest influence on posting of images and videos as part of reviews. Younger consumers are more titillated by this prospect — perhaps unsurprising, given the popularity of visually oriented social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok among this demographic. Some 80% of thrifty Millennials cited free samples as a winning incentive to drive them to post a video with their review. While 40% of Gen Zers said they were motivated by the chance their image might be subsequently shared on a brand’s website.

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Consumer Advocacy Strategies and Best Practices

“With an understanding of reviewer motivations, brands can devise winning strategies to win over their advocacy and generate more user engagement and ratings and reviews,” said Andrew Smith, vice president of Marketing for PowerReviews.

Smith recommends the following best practices:

Adapt user generated content collection strategies according to age demographics.

Different generations have slightly different preferences and motivations to provide user generated content. Consider tailoring outreach strategies and approaches for greater alignment and improved results.

Send out free samples as a review generation mechanism. This is clearly the most effective method to generate ratings and reviews for a particular product quickly. Encourage consumers to provide imagery and video in their reviews.

Incorporate user generated content throughout marketing initiatives. This creates more buyer confidence, generating more conversions and sales, and influencing customers to submit more ratings and reviews. Target younger demographics to provide video and imagery with contest-style invitations focused on including their content in corporate brand marketing.

Leverage user generated content as a valuable customer feedback source to improve your business.
Above and beyond its obvious conversion power, brands should also leverage the analytics value of this content. It’s a highly valuable form of customer feedback that can drive improvements in products, customer experience, and overall marketing and messaging efforts.

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