Customer reviews of books available for sale on Amazon are becoming attack weapons that can severely impact the sales and adoption of new books.  According to some researchers, a very good book can be killed before its even been given a shot if a group of people ban together to post negative reviews.

For example, a group of Michael Jackson fans used social media to solicit negative reviews for a biography of the singer entitled, “Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson.”  The fans, who call themselves, “Michael Jackson’s Rapid Response Team to Media Attacks”, defended themselves claiming that they are exercising their right to free speech and that the book dehumanizes Michael Jackson.  The book’s publisher, Grove Press, criticized Amazon’s review system. Within two weeks of its publication, the book had nearly 100 anonymous one-star reviews.  Amazon briefly removed the book and the MJ Response Team claimed this action as a victory.

Amazon depends on customer reviews.   Customer reviews are an important part of Amazon’s retail model and the company promotes the use of reviews and frequently requests that customers review recent purchases. However, attack reviews are hard to police and Amazon’s policies on reviewing offer little guidance on what is permissible in a negative review.  Researchers of online reviews suggest that Amazon is hoping that problems with positive and negative reviews kind of work themselves out and go away.  However, as more and more abuses are revealed, it will gradually undermine the review process and Amazon will no longer be able to ignore the problem.

Discussion Question:

Is there any way that consumers can really know whether an online review is “legitimate” or planted to either help or hinder a product’s sale?

 

SOURCE: David Streitfeld, New York Times, January 20, 2013