Regarding consumer satisfaction, some brands are delivering it better than others. An online rating is one of the most effective ways to know how customers feel about your services. The rating ranges from one to five, with one being grossly unsatisfactory and five being excellent.
Now, let us talk about a three-star rating and what it means for your brand’s reputation. It may seem like a three-star rating is still average and means your brand is performing okay. However, a three-star rating means something entirely different to a customer, especially new customers.
The Difference Between 4-Star and 3-Star Ratings
There is a vast difference between a four-star and a three-star rating. A huge chunk of consumers’ trust vanishes with each star that disappears from the rating, up to 67 percent. Furthermore, studies have shown that consumers lose confidence when a service or product does not have a four- or five-star rating.
The online reviews of some products and services determine whether they live or die. The difference between a four- and three-star rating is the massive drop in trust, which has cost many companies millions in revenue. As you know, consumer trust is essential if your products and services are to impact their respective industries.
What Is the Minimum Star Rating to Aim For?
As stated earlier, one star less means a 67-percentage decrease in consumer trust regarding a product or service. The burning question is, what is the minimum star rating a product needs out of five stars? How many star ratings should your product maintain to obtain a positive response in the consideration stage of a purchase decision?
To answer these questions, one must pay attention to some key points regarding ratings, and they include:
- A product with five or four stars typically has an extremely high level of trust among its consumers. The higher the ratings on the product, the more confidence consumers have in it.
- A drop from a four-star rating to a three-star rating shows a highly significant decrease in the level of trust. This can result in a decline of consumers’ confidence in the product.
- Consumers need more trust in products and services with a two-star or one-star rating for them to purchase or use it.
What a Low Rating Means for Your Brand in Search Engines
We can see these results from the click curves from organic search results. Essentially, this means that the higher your rating, the more traffic your products and services get. Likewise, the lower your ratings, the more invisible you are to searches; your rank signals trust from search engines.
It is significant if your product or service drops one star from a four to a three-star rating. It can drastically reduce consumers’ comfort level when making a purchasing decision for a product or service. New consumers value customer feedback; that is one of the things they look for when looking for a product.
After all, no one wants to spend their hard-earned money on something they will regret later. Thus, a three-star rating on a product can make a customer question whether they should purchase it.
Conclusion
“Customer satisfaction is essential if your brand grows, and one way to know how customers feel about your service is through ratings,” says Seth Price, founder of MedShark Digital.
The purpose was to find out how much they influence consumer purchasing decisions. The study concluded that the higher your rating, the more trust consumers have in your service – and vice versa.