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Customer’s online reviews of products and services are highly influential and have an immediate impact on brand value and customer buying behaviors. According to the Pew Research Center, “82% of U.S. adults say they at least sometimes read online customer ratings or reviews before purchasing items for the first time, including 40% who say they always or almost always do so.” How and whether to respond to online reviews is a critical consideration that may very well make or break a company’s success.

When you try a new restaurant or book a hotel, do you consider the online reviews? Do you submit online reviews yourself? Do you pay attention if they are filtered and moderated? Does that impact your own online review submissions? A research team comprising of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s T. Ravichandran, Ph.D., professor in the Lally School of Management, and Jason Kuruzovich, Ph.D., associate professor in the Lally School of Management; and Lianlian Jiang, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, examined these questions in recently published research.

New research from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows that when service-industry companies respond with the right mix of rational and emotional cues that match the nature of complaints in negative reviews, it can positively impact the perception and ratings of future customers as well as the complaining customer.

Information systems expert T. (Ravi) Ravichandran has been named the Irene and Robert Bozzone ’55 Distinguished Chair in the Lally School of Management.