Navigating the Web3 Frontier: A Consumer Survey Reveals How Americans Use Online Reviews in Making Decisions

In December 2022, we used Attest to find out if people are interested in learning about Web3, how they find out about new products/services to purchase/invest in, and how they typically engage with online reviews.

The results were surprising and changed my business strategy.

We all know the internet plays a huge role in our daily lives, and with the rise of web3 tech, it's important to understand how people are learning about and getting involved with these new tools. Having spent a year dabbling in Web3 and working on building a Web3 review platform, I've had some assumptions around how people learn and engage with Web3 communities. But when Attest (a consumer research platform) reached out to partner up on a content project in late 2022, I knew I wanted to explore this subject in depth through a real research study.

We conducted a survey to get the scoop on how Americans are tackling the web3 world and the role that user reviews play in their decision-making process. Here's what we found out.

The survey was carried out with a sample size of 1,000 respondents and covered the demographic group of US-based adults from 18-65 years of age.

Finding 1: Interest in Web3 Communities

It's a close call, but the majority of Americans (54%) said they're interested in web3 communities. Of that group, 23.4% are "very interested" while 30.3% are "somewhat" interested. On the flip side, 46% of respondents said they're not interested in web3 communities.

Takeaway: There is a sizeable portion of the US adult population that is interested in engaging with web3 communities, indicating potential demand for such communities.

Next steps: Consider targeting marketing and outreach efforts towards the 54% of respondents who expressed an interest in web3 communities, with a focus on the 23.4% who are "very interested."

Finding 2: Where to Learn About Web3

We asked people where they would go to learn more about web3 communities and companies to engage with. Unsurprisingly, Google came out on top (63%), followed by YouTube (49%), social media platforms (38%), family and friends (31%), online forums (26%), and podcasts (18%).

Takeaway: Google, YouTube, and social media platforms are the most popular sources for learning about web3 communities and companies, so it may be effective to focus outreach efforts on these channels.

Next steps: Utilize the top sources identified by respondents (Google, YouTube, social media platforms) as channels for education and outreach efforts.

Finding 3: Familiarity with Web3 Communities

We asked respondents to name the web3 communities they're most familiar with, and the overwhelming majority said "none." This could be a prime opportunity for education and outreach in the web3 space. Other names that came up included Google, Coinbase, and Coindesk.

Takeaway: The majority of respondents were not familiar with specific web3 communities, indicating a potential opportunity for education and outreach in this area.

Next steps: Consider implementing education and outreach efforts to increase familiarity with web3 communities.

Finding 4: The Power of User Reviews

A whopping 95% of respondents said they read user reviews before making a purchase or investment for the first time. Of that group, 38% said they "always" read reviews, 30% said they "often" do, and 27% said they "sometimes" do.

Takeaway: User reviews are important to the majority of respondents when making purchasing or investment decisions, so it is valuable to have a strong presence of positive reviews.

Next steps: Web3 communities should prioritize encouraging customers to leave reviews, as they hold significant influence in the purchasing and investing decisions for potential members.

Finding 5: Willingness to Leave Reviews

While a large percentage (80%) of respondents said they would leave a user review for companies or communities they've interacted with, 20% said they rarely or never leave reviews.

Takeaway: While a lot of people are willing to leave reviews, there's still a significant number that aren't, so there might be an opportunity to increase review writing.

Next steps: Think about implementing strategies to get more people to leave reviews, like providing incentives or making the review process easier.

Finding 6: Positive vs. Negative Reviews

The majority of respondents (68%) said they only post positive reviews. Of that group, 20% said they post "very positive" reviews and 48% said they post positive reviews. In contrast, only 5% of respondents said they would leave negative reviews, with 26% saying they would leave neutral reviews.

Takeaway: Most people only post positive reviews, so it's important to focus on customer satisfaction to get more positive reviews.

Next steps: Prioritize giving customers a positive experience to increase the chances of getting positive reviews.

Finding 7: Review Writing Motivations

The top reason for leaving a review was having "a great experience with the product/service" (59%), followed by "a great experience with the community/team" (49%), and incentives like discounts or coupons (27%). On the negative side, 31% of respondents said they were motivated to write a review after a "bad experience with the product or service."

Takeaway: The top motivation for leaving a review is having a great experience with a product or service, so customer satisfaction should be a priority.

Next steps: Implement strategies to give customers a great experience, like addressing feedback and providing incentives, to increase the likelihood of getting positive reviews.

Finding 8: Encouraging Review Writing

The top factors that would encourage people to leave a review were providing incentives (75.6%), communicating changes following feedback (75.2%), experiencing being scammed or "rugged" (74%), and seeing feedback appear immediately on a webpage (69%).

Takeaway: Providing incentives and promptly addressing feedback are the most effective ways to get people to leave reviews, so these should be priorities when seeking out customer reviews.

Next steps: Consider implementing strategies that are effective at getting people to leave reviews, like providing incentives and promptly addressing customer feedback.

Conclusion

This survey gives us a good idea of how Americans are approaching the web3 world and how user reviews factor into their decision-making process. It looks like there's room for education and outreach to increase familiarity with web3 communities, and user reviews definitely hold a lot of weight.

These results definitely helped me validate some thoughts and plans we had for Rugless and busted a few hypotheses we had around the types of reviews people would be more inclined to share. Looks like we'll be revisiting some of our website copy and how we position our collaboration conversations with other communities and Web3 brands.

If you would like to understand how this survey was designed on Attest's self-serve platform) and view the details of the results presented by the Research Lead, Nick White), watch this video. ⤵️

You'll learn why consumer research is essential for businesses, how to learn more about consumer profiling and see a walkthrough of how to interpret the data in the survey dashboard.  Plus, you'll also be able to get a discount code for a subscription with Attest if you wanted to carry out your own research.