Research Shows Game Reviews Influence Sales

In a study by EEDAR and the Southern Methodist University, 165 SMU students who had never played Plants Vs. Zombies were brought in and divided into three groups. One group was shown positive reviews for the game, (around the 90% range), the second group was shown lower scores (around 60%), and a control group was shown no reviews. They then played the game for about 20 minutes.

Not surprisingly, when asked to review the game between 0 and 100, students who read higher reviews scored the game 7% higher than the control group, and 16% higher than low review group. The frim had this to say: "…Even with first-hand experience of time spent playing the game, those exposed to high review scores give the game a higher review and those exposed to low review scores gave the game a lower score. Clearly, this initial review exposure influenced their opinion, even after they played the game themselves,"

As well, after they had completed the test, students were offered either ten dollars, or a copy of Plants Vs. Zombies for PC or Mac. Students who read the positive reviews were more than twice as likely to take PvZ instead of the cash than the negative review group, and 85% more likely than the control group.

So there you have it, when reading a glowing review, it will probably influence your purchasing choices! Who knew?