Study: Replying to Customer Reviews Results in Better Ratings

When companies make mistakes, customers often write reviews about it online. Some companies have started responding to customer reviews, but do these responses affect the ratings that customers give them? According to a study of hotel reviews on TripAdvisor, yes: When hotels start responding, they receive 12% more reviews and their ratings increase by an average of 0.12 stars (on a 1-to-5 scale). These gains may seem small, but they can have a significant effect on the hotel’s rating, due to how platforms like TripAdvisor round ratings up or down.