As shoppers gear up for one of the busiest buying seasons of the year, there’s good reason to be skeptical, according to a University of Colorado Boulder marketing expert.
Click image above for downloadable soundbites of Donnie Lichtenstein explaining his research on sales and online product ratings.
Donnie Lichtenstein, professor at the Leeds School of Business, has studied sales tactics for more than four decades. He’s recently done research into online product ratings systems on websites like Amazon.
On holiday sales: Lichtenstein has researched one common tactic: stores will run an advertisement referencing a higher price elsewhere.
“And many, many, many times, these things are just deceptive, trying to create the perception of a good deal, when it’s not,” Lichtenstein said.
Why stores get away with deceptive advertising: Lichtenstein noted attorneys general and their offices are typically in charge of busting bad actors. But regulators are at a disadvantage.
“They’re woefully understaffed,” Lichtenstein said. “So many times, it’s just ‘consumer beware.’”
Why you should skip most online product ratings: Many online shoppers use product ratings from other users to find good products and avoid the bad ones. However, according to Lichtenstein’s research, the stars next to a product are a terrible guide.
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“If they paid a high price for it, they’re going to want to feel like they got a good deal. To justify that high price, they’ll give it a high rating,” Lichtenstein said.
Lichtenstein's research also found people tend to be biased toward or against certain brands. That bias is a major factor in peoples’ ratings, he said.
He recommends finding a third-party website that has rated several models of the product you are looking to buy.
Contact:
Andrew Sorensen
andrew.sorensen@colorado.edu