There has always been a debate about whether verified reviews or personal recommendations from friends and family are the biggest influence on an individual’s purchasing decisions.
New research from reviews and customer insight company Feefo, has found that, at least when it comes to financial decisions, young people place a huge amount of trust in verified reviews. In a survey where the company asked over 1,000 UK consumers between 16 – 34 about their attitudes to financial sectors, 85% said that they trust verified reviews more than any other source.
That means that young people trust reviews more than their own friends and families when it comes to financial decisions.
“This is compelling evidence that verified reviews have a major influence on younger adults when they take big financial decisions,” said Matt West, CMO at Feefo.
“Banks, lenders and insurers that fail to offer trustworthy, easy-to-use review systems are sacrificing a huge commercial advantage among young adults, who are looking for mortgages and loans as they start out in life.
Increasing loyalty
The financial industry is an interesting case because people rarely actually switch their bank accounts. The results of the showed that both switching and non-switching consumers value verified reviews. 82% of respondents that had never switched said that they would use verified reviews to make their decision.
Of the respondents that had switched, 88% described reviews as “highly persuasive”.
“In the hyper-competitive era of fintechs and challenger banks, financial services organisations need to maximise every means of engaging with customers,” said West.
“Out-of-the-box solutions can provide a bank’s customers with reviews they trust, using advances in artificial intelligence to provide personalised drill-downs and summaries. As well as enticing new customers and dramatically increasing loyalty, review systems tell a financial services provider what it is doing right and where it is going wrong. They are definitely revenue-builders.”
- by Colm Hebblethwaite
