What Software Buyers Look for in User Reviews
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Nearly all ( ) buyers say reading reviews before making a purchase is important. Reviews have the power to increase buyer confidence, but some reviews have more influence than others. Here are five factors software buyers care about most when reading reviews.
98%
Factor No. 1
Quantity
The majority of software buyers typically read up to 10 reviews before making a purchase decision.
1-5 reviews
6-10 reviews
11-15 reviews
16-20 reviews
Source: Gartner Digital Markets’ 2024 Software Buying Behavior Survey. Q34: How many user reviews do you typically read before making a software purchase decision? Please select one response only. (n = 2,499)
38
%
35
%
9
%
15
%
Factor No. 2
Quality
Qualitative commentary is the most important factor in user reviews for software evaluation.
Presence of qualitative commentary
54
%
Presence of recent reviews
51
%
Distribution of numeric ratings
42
%
Presence of numeric ratings
39
%
Ability to see common review themes
35
%
Screenshots and/or videos of the product
30
%
Source: Gartner Digital Markets’ 2024 Software Buying Behavior Survey. Q37: Select the top 3 most important factors of user reviews for software you are evaluating. (n = 2,499)
Factor No. 3
Most buyers ( ) say they are more likely to trust software user reviews written in the past year.
Recency
Factor No. 4
Most buyers consider it extremely or very important for a software provider to offer reviews in their primary language.
Language
92%
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
42
%
50
%
7
%
2
%
Source: Gartner Digital Markets’ 2024 Software Buying Behavior Survey. Q35: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: I am more likely to trust software user reviews written in the past year. (n = 2,499). Note: Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.
Very important
Extremely important
38
%
48
%
37
%
48
%
36
%
48
%
38
%
35
%
37
%
34
%
39
%
31
%
42
%
20
%
18
%
44
%
29
%
26
%
Source: Gartner Digital Markets’ 2024 Software Buying Behavior Survey. Q32: How important is it for a software provider to offer user reviews in your primary language? Please select one response only. (n = 2,499); (U.S. n = 500; U.K. n = 250; Canada n = 250; Australia n = 250; France n = 250; Germany n = 249; Brazil n = 250; India n = 250; Japan n = 250)
Reading reviews that are verified by a third party is extremely or very important to 66% of software buyers.
Verification
Factor No. 5
37
%
Very important
29
%
Extremely important
1
%
Not important
11
%
Mildly important
22
%
Somewhat important
Source: Gartner Digital Markets’ 2024 Software Buying Behavior Survey. Q38: When reading user reviews for software, how important is it for the reviews to be verified? A verified review is when the review site has confirmed that the reviewer is an actual user of the product/service. Please select one response only. (n = 2,499)
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Gartner Digital Markets is the world’s largest software and services marketplace. More than 100 million people visit Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice and UpCity across more than 70 localized sites every year to read objective research and verified customer reviews that help them confidently choose the right software and services. Thousands of B2B companies work with Gartner Digital Markets to build their brand, capture buyer demand and grow their business.
About Gartner Digital Markets
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(*) Gartner Digital Markets’ 2024 Software Buying Behavior Survey was designed to understand the makeup, triggers, budgets and challenges of software buying teams at global businesses across multiple industries and sizes. We sought to uncover the software types these buyers are adopting, their evaluation methods and what factors convince them to make a purchase, from vendor reputation and sales team interactions to content materials and user reviews.
The survey was conducted online in August and September 2023 among 2,499 respondents from the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, France, India, Germany, Brazil and Japan, with businesses across multiple industries, employing between 5,000 to 10,000 or more workers, and reporting up to $1 billion in annual revenue. Respondents were screened to ensure their involvement in software purchasing decisions.
Methodology
Review verification to ensure authenticity.
Review translation in up to nine languages.
Review collection tools, templates and support.
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