Consumer Score is a metric that indicates how much customers like a product. It is used in calculating the awesomeness score - our main ranking metric. It's a number between 0 and 10, where 0 is similar to a 2.5-star review and 10 is similar to a 4.9-star review. A higher Consumer Score suggests that customers have a more positive opinion of the product.

How it's calculated

To calculate the Consumer Score, data is collected from customer reviews found online. The reviews are analyzed using sentiment analysis to determine the overall sentiment expressed in the review. The reviews are then combined with a weighted average, taking into account the usefulness and trustworthiness of each review. The more useful and trustworthy a review is, the more weight it is given in the calculation of the Consumer Score.

Usefulness and Trustworthiness

Usefulness and trustworthiness are two factors that are used to weight customer reviews when calculating the Consumer Score. Here's how they are typically calculated:

Usefulness:
To determine the usefulness of a review, several factors are taken into account, such as the length of the review, the level of detail provided, and the specific features or aspects of the product that are discussed. Reviews that are longer, more detailed, and cover more aspects of the product are typically considered more useful and are given more weight in the calculation of the Consumer Score.

Trustworthiness:
To determine the trustworthiness of a review, several factors are considered, such as the source of the review, the history of the reviewer. Reviews from verified purchasers or from sources with a history of providing accurate and unbiased reviews are typically considered more trustworthy and are given more weight in the calculation of the Consumer Score.

Why it's useful

Overall, Consumer Score provides a more accurate and precise representation of customer sentiment than the average customer review. By using a weighted aggregation of reviews, sentiment analysis, and a consistent methodology, Consumer Score provides a reliable benchmark for measuring customer satisfaction and identifying areas for improvement.

Consumer score is particularly when presented as a distribution of scores for different products.

Limitations and Issues

Consumer score is not our favorite way to rank products. It is used in determining the awesomeness score only in absence of other more reliable factors such as MetaRankings or expert reviews. Key issues with consumer score are:

External factors:
One of the main limitations of Consumer Score is that customer sentiment can be affected by factors unrelated to product quality, such as delivery or misunderstanding of product listing. These factors can lead to inaccurate or biased reviews, which can in turn affect the accuracy of the Consumer Score. While sentiment analysis can help to filter out some of these issues, it may not be able to fully account for all external factors that can influence customer sentiment.

Fake/incentivized reviews:
Another major limitation of Consumer Score is the potential for fake or incentivized reviews to influence the score. In some cases, businesses may incentivize customers to leave positive reviews or even post fake reviews themselves in order to boost the Consumer Score. While there are measures in place to detect and remove fake reviews, it can be difficult to fully filter them out, and they can lead to inaccurate or biased scores.

In conclusion

Our goal is to make product research transparent and simple. Consumer Score is simple, but not necessarily transparent. However, even with this limitation in mind, it is a useful tool to compare, research and rank products.