The secret to growing your business is… using the correct tense

When it comes to optimising reviews of your business, does it make a difference whether your customer said they ‘loved’ your product, or they ‘love’ your product? That you ‘had excellent service’, or ‘have excellent service’? 

I’ve shared before about how to deal with negative online reviews. We can prevent negative reviews from snowballing by making sure the first review we receive is a positive one, and take comfort knowing that, thanks to the ‘Blemishing Effect’, a small bit of bad news can actually bolster your customer’s commitment to the purchase!

But what about reviews in general? What makes one review more persuasive than another?

In-tense reviews

According to research by Packard, Berger and Boghrati (2023), whether past or present tense is used can change how reader’s regard the review and your product.

In short, if someone says they ‘loved your product’ it is less effective at influencing others than if they say they ‘love your product’.