Instead of going to stores to compare products, Americans have increasingly turned to watching online video reviews.
As far back as a decade, 55% of Americans reported they'd watched online reviews of products, according to Pew Research . As of late 2024, Pew found 62% were relying on the video platform TikTok to view product reviews or recommendations.
They may be popular, but do video reviews really lead people to buy? New research by Muhammad Jawad , clinical assistant professor of information, risk, and operations management at McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, finds that they do, but with a catch: Timing matters.
The same video review can either clinch a sale or fall flat, he finds — depending entirely on when it appears in the decision-making process.
