American Express Study Finds Consumers Seek Out Negative Opinions
http://www.revenews.com/barrysilverstein/american-express-study-finds-consumers-seek-out-negative-opinions/

The good news is that, contrary to a commonly held belief, customers will talk more about a positive experience with a company than a negative one. Three-quarters of respondents said they are very likely to speak positively about a company after a good service experience, while 59 percent said they are very likely to speak negatively about a company after poor service.

But here’s the bad news companies need to consider: nearly half (48 percent) of respondents report always or often using an online posting or blog to get others’ opinions about a company’s customer service reputation. What are they looking for? Negative opinions.

According to American Express’ survey over half of respondents (57 percent) say they believe more in negative reviews than positive ones on blogs, and 48 percent believe more in negative reviews on social networking sites. Jim Bush, Executive Vice President, World Service for American Express, explains:

(via Instapaper)

I personally search for any negative reviews - bad service, missing orders, etc - before ordering from a company for the first time. I know many of the positive reviews might be true but then again so many affiliates will write positive reviews just to get the sale.