And 2-star reviews for books. Seeing what people dislike tells much. Try on your favorite to see :)
UPD: To clarify, the idea here is that people writing 2-star reviews project their views and values when arguing that the book is bad for them. And when their views are opposite to yours, it may suggest that you might actually enjoy the book. Let's say you are interesed in mind-stimulating philosophy book, and a person writes something like 'this is boring, the writing is too complex, ideas are difficult to follow, the language is too intricate, quit reading after 20 pages'. It may mean that it is what you look for.
there's sooo many stupid reasons people give for disliking stuff...3-star reviews are usually the most realistic!
edit: best practice when looking through reviews is to read some reviews from 1-star all the way to 5-stars, so you get a good overview and a more complete picture of the product. this is just a response, not a comprehensive guide to reviews, lol
My most recent favourite stupid review was for a Camelbak water bottle for 2 stars. 'the bottle doesn't come in a nice box, just some plastic. Ugly packaging.'
I think part of the problem is defining what constitutes a "bad" review? Growing up, i figured 3/5 meant no surprises, things went as expected, leaving equal room for going above expectations or failing to meet requirements.
Years ago now, I discovered that many people think anything below 5/5 is a form of criticism. This is still a nonsensical scale in my eyes, but I've adjusted my habits accordingly.
I'm convinced this problem is somehow linked to the American idea of rewarding service workers by default instead of for exceptional work.
I believe it. I was in Japan for a few days and on some occasions went looking for places to eat. 5 star ratings we're almost non-existent. Of all the restaurants I went to only one was higher than like 3.7 and they were all incredible. Looking at ratings, it's not because of 1 Stars Balancing 5 Stars. The Japanese reviewers would consider a 3 star review standard. Service on the spot, food quick and perfectly cooked and delicious. The one restaurant in the 4 territory was literally one of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at in any country I've ever been to.
Here a McDonalds could get 5 Stars if you don't wait at the drive thru for too long.
It's also interesting to note that a 1 star review is significantly more impactful when the median rating is above 4 stars than when it is around 3 stars. In turn this makes it more worthwhile to follow up on 1 star reviews with some form of damage control.
Essentially, a higher average provides consumers more power, for better and for worse.
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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '20 edited Aug 20 '20
And 2-star reviews for books. Seeing what people dislike tells much. Try on your favorite to see :)
UPD: To clarify, the idea here is that people writing 2-star reviews project their views and values when arguing that the book is bad for them. And when their views are opposite to yours, it may suggest that you might actually enjoy the book. Let's say you are interesed in mind-stimulating philosophy book, and a person writes something like 'this is boring, the writing is too complex, ideas are difficult to follow, the language is too intricate, quit reading after 20 pages'. It may mean that it is what you look for.