- Consumers are looking for facts and objectivity: consumers are happy to read the details of both positive and negative reviews during their research to form their own opinions.
- Consumers are feeling more lenient towards local businesses in 2025: Lowered expectations around the total review counts a business 'should' have and a shift in perceptions of recency suggests consumers are feeling more forgiving.
- Local businesses must prove themselves with excellent experiences: Consumers aren't finding experiences noteworthy enough to write about, and some don't think their reviews will make a difference.
- Conflicting feelings and understanding of AI: Consumers think AI equates to 'fake', yet unknowingly preferred an AI-written response, and use AI review summaries to guide decisions.
Consumer behavior is influenced by a variety of external factors, including the economy, politics, technology, social environments and culture.
When we wrote the first edition of the Local Consumer Review Survey in 2010, could we have predicted we'd still be doing it fifteen years later? When Instagram was a mere few months old, with overly sepia-toned filters, could we have envisioned its future role in helping users find local businesses? Known the political turbulence that would be caused by apps like X (then Twitter) and TikTok?
In the last couple of years alone, we've seen more consumers shifting to alternative platforms in search of local business reviews, including Instagram, TikTok, and AI like ChatGPT. We've seen new opportunities emerging thanks to technology like AI, enabling business owners to write review responses and automations to help prompt customers to review.