Canadians have a reputation for being a trustworthy bunch. For many years, a well-made advert was enough to convince the Canadian public to try something new. Regardless of the product, a catchy jingle, a friendly face, and a toll-free number were the benchmarks for success.
However, the rise of digital commerce has shifted the public perception of advertising. Trust has given way to scepticism. Canadians are far more cautious when it comes to handing out their personal information online. This is just as applicable to email addresses as it is bank details.
Modern Canadians don’t blindly accept advertisers’ claims; they want to hear from others who have already used the app or subscribed to the service. Reviews now form the load-bearing pillar for product success. Numbers and statistics confirm the growing power of user reviews, and this is backed by an underlying psychology that drives us to seek out the thoughts and views of those with firsthand experience.
There is more to Canadians’ enthusiasm for reviews than idle gossip or hearsay. There is clear, measurable proof that shows that almost the entire Canadian consumer base has significantly changed their shopping habits.
Research into consumer behaviour shows that 93% of Canadian shoppers consult reviews before committing to a purchase or signing up. The core reason is the trust factor. Reviews written by real people who have experienced the product or item in question carry greater trust weight than an advert created by the seller.
Further research revealed that 85% of Canadians place as much trust in online reviews as they do recommendations from family and friends.
The growing role of mobile phones in e-commerce is another key factor, with mobile review views increasing by 40% since 2020. The shift from blind trust to review dependency is not a flash in the pan, but rather a permanent change in attitude that retailers must now keep in mind.
From subscription boxes and meal kits to fintech apps, online retailers, and wellness platforms, there isn’t a single dominant product or service that Canadians rely on reviews for. Any item or service that requires payment of some kind sends Canadians flocking to review sites, eager to hear the experiences of other consumers. The same applies to digital entertainment such as subscription services and online casinos. Many Canadians will check multiple sources before committing to anything, making resources like CanadaCasino’s latest casino launches section invaluable. Potential players can use a curated list of casinos to compare against a range of key points, including welcome bonuses, user experience, and payment options.
What is it about other people’s experiences that creates such a trusting environment? There is a psychological reasoning behind it. Social proof is a psychological term that describes how people guide their actions by the opinions and experiences of others. This is particularly noted during moments of uncertainty, which stretches to include purchasing decisions, but there are also more tangible reasons people use to explain why they check reviews.
Buyer’s remorse is a big issue. There is nothing worse than signing up for a new service, potentially agreeing to a contractual period, only to swiftly realise it wasn’t the right choice. Not only are users paying for something they will not use, but their personal data has already been handed over in the process.
Loss aversion is another psychological term that reflects our natural instinct to avoid potential harm.
Reading reviews and understanding real-life experiences with the service helps allay fears of potential regret. That alone makes the time investment in finding and reading reviews worthwhile.
There is a growing issue with the credibility of traditional advertising. Modern consumers are wise to the tricks and clever word choices written by a contracted team whose job is to make the product sound perfect. A review written by a total stranger with no vested interest in profitability feels different. A well-written review from a stranger carries a weight that no marketing copy can match. Consumers are no longer being spoken to by a marketing team but by regular people, creating that ‘just like me’ level of trust.
Brands that ignore this do so at the cost of their reputation.
Canadians are surrounded by subscription models. The average Canadian has between four and six active subscriptions at any given time. There is a financial pressure associated with this, a background drain known as subscription creep. Understanding this has led Canadians to be more selective about the services they sign up for. Before agreeing to another $9.99 monthly subscription, users read reviews to confirm that the service delivers what they need. Reviews are the best place to find this information, given the increased trustworthiness of peer opinions.
There is more to reading a review than simply skimming it for content. Canadians have developed a keen eye for quality reviews and know the key details to look out for so they can be assured the reviewer is genuine. This includes identifying red flags as much as it does high-quality points.
Reviews are great, but certain red flags immediately lower trust and increase scepticism about the product. A sea of 5-star reviews is one of the main red flags. No product or service will please everybody in every way to the point of perfection.
Canadian consumers quickly learned that when everything about a product seems faultless or every review reads like a full press release, it is often too good to be true.
Consumers want to see a range of reviews, from detailed write-ups to short, even single-word reviews. Reviews should paint a realistic picture, and that means a range of ratings and feelings.
When consumers see a product has a range of reviews, from one to five stars, it adds an immediate air of credibility before they have even read a word because every user has a different want, need, or understanding of the product.
Reviews that describe both positive and negative experiences, and reference Canadian-specific items—even something as simple as prices listed in CAD—create strong trust signals that capture consumers’ attention. Combined, these signals indicate a genuine product, which is exactly why the Canadian market reads reviews.
Experienced consumers always look to filter available reviews by rating or “most helpful,” making it easier to find the ones worth reading. From there, long-form reviews are typically read first, as these are most likely to reveal telling information and feedback on the product.
Additionally, few readers stick to a single review source; instead, they browse multiple platforms to get a broader understanding of what people think. Sites like Reddit are also popular, as people tend to talk about products in an honest and unfiltered way.
As reviews became a highly influential part of the buying process, the temptation to engineer the system for positive results also grew. Paid reviews and incentivised testimonials create a disingenuous air surrounding products. Following this came bot-written reviews and companies quietly deleting negative reviews in order to create positivity funnels enticing customers to the checkout.
However, Canadian consumers, like so many others worldwide, soon saw through the fake reviews and created the necessary tools to regain their trust in peer recommendations.
Apps and extensions like Fakespot and ReviewMeta flag suspicious review patterns on leading platforms. Individuals also started looking deeper, analysing the reviewer and not just their review. Do they have a history of posting reviews? Is everything always 5 stars? Do they sound genuine? It was not just Canadian consumers who were eager to remove fake reviews.
Businesses are also fighting back, creating profile badges such as Amazon’s “verified purchase” label, which tells consumers that this reviewer purchased the item.
For companies, the role of reviews cannot be ignored, and mitigating the damage caused by fake reviews is equally vital. Transparency and responsiveness are necessary components of e-commerce. Many businesses now offer direct responses to all reviews, clearly demonstrating their dedication to the product and commitment to customer satisfaction.
Reviews have become the primary gate for digital signups in Canada. They have wrested control from marketing departments and placed it in the hands of consumers. For Canadian consumers, leaving a review is a powerful way to give a product a stamp of approval or add a warning label, building a reference point for the next person waiting to make their purchase decision.
Today, a strong digital review profile is one of the most powerful marketing tools a brand can have.
Photo: iStock
