Travel products and services at threat from user comments

According to a recent report many travel related product and services could be at threat because of the comments that many users leave about them online through sites such as social networking sites.

For many consumers being able to read up on reviews and opinions from other people about various services and products has proven invaluable, as it has allowed them to make a more informed choice about the purchases that they make. With broadband being so widely used in the UK these days many people take the time to voice their thoughts an opinions on everything from electrical gadgets to a wide range of services.

Travel services and products are amongst the many different services that many consumers write reviews and opinions on these days, and often this is done through specialist review sites and through social networking sites. However, one recent report has claimed that travel services and products are amongst the services and products that suffer the most as a result of the reviews and opinions that consumers write online.

The study found that around eighty percent of respondents had used review sites and social networking sites to talk about products and services, and that a massive fifty percent of consumers were put off by negative comments that they read when they were considering buying a product or a service. In a breakdown figures showed that around fifty nine percent of men took negative comments seriously and forty seven percent of women.

One official stated: “The rapid growth of social networks and user generated content is shifting the online balance of power away from marketers towards the consumer, and the effectiveness of traditional online marketing channels is decreasing. With so many consumers actively commenting on brands through social networks, online reputation is becoming even more important. Social networks are a large and unregulated channel with a massive user base, through which brands could see their good reputation built through other channels, undone very quickly.”