Perhaps star ratings strike you as an innocuous gimmick to use on your social media business pages. Consumer behavior statistics prove otherwise. Star ratings have a significant impact on your customer's purchase decisions. In turn, this directly affects your business’ sales growth, for better or worse.

Star ratings are simply one component of an online reputation management strategy. The infographic below from ReviewPush illustrates some interesting statistics about how star ratings influence customer purchase behavior.

Some Facts About Star Ratings

You might be surprised to learn that 97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses.

Restaurants and hospitality businesses especially are subject to such online pre-purchase research. Your star rating is an instant indicator that either turns people off or gives them the go-ahead to visit your local business.

The Most Trusted Review Sites

There are dozens of review sites out there, but our infographic shows the 8 most trusted review sites that 99% of consumers turn to first.

What Your Star Score Means

Consumers judge you instantly on your star rating. The good news is that if your star rating is lower than you’d like, it’s not necessarily a sign of inferior quality or a poor experience.

There are at least three other simple reasons why your star rating doesn’t reflect reality. And the fixes are relatively easy to implement.