One of the most frustrating aspects of online reputation management for business owners is that it seems negative online reviews pop up like dandelions while positive online reviews sometimes seem as rare as as a blooming Titan arum, or “corpse flower.
If it seems like getting negative online reviews is easy and getting positive online reviews is hard – it’s not just your imagination. It turns out that studies show that we humans are hard wired to respond to anger – and anger is often what “drives” negative online reviews.
The problem of course is that while the anger of the disgruntled customer soon subsides. Sometimes the online review is the first clue the business owner had that there was a problem. Meanwhile, long after the situation has been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction – the negative online review lives on – because the internet doesn’t forgive or forget.
Human beings are not only more likely to “take action” when they’re angry – they also seem to be “pre-disposed” to hold on to negative interactions more fiercely than positive ones. This isn’t the findings of some think tank “sales” oriented research but rather the work of psychologists studying the most intimate of relationships – marriage.
In the book “How Full Is Your Bucket” by Donald O Clifton and Tom Rath, the authors contend that in the course of any given day, our interactions are rarely neutral. Instead – they are highly polarized and are viewed as either positive or negative. They cite John Gottman’s pioneering research on marriage which suggests there is a “magic ratio” of 5 to 1 necessary to balance positive to negative interactions. In other words, in a healthy marriage it takes 5 positive interactions to counterbalance 1 negative interaction. When the ratio of positive to negative interactions drops to 1-1 – divorce is the inevitable result.
So in the course of doing business with you – your customers are programmed by nature to view these interactions as either positive or negative – and when they perceive the interaction is negative it takes 5 positive interactions to “counter act” that single negative experience.
That’s the biggest reason why relying upon “organic” online reputation management is a recipe for disaster for most businesses – because while one would hope that all your customers will head to the web with the same enthusiasm to review your business – it’s only those who are frustrated and angry who are truly motivated to make their voice heard on the web. When you realize that a single negative experience needs five positive experiences to “negate” the negative – and it’s easy to see why taking a proactive stance about managing your online reputation is by far the best investment any business owner can make.
