🎓 ‘Top Rated’ sells better than ‘Best Seller’

People in interdependent cultures (e.g. South America, Asia) are willing to pay up to 28% more for products labeled as ‘Top Rated’ (vs ‘Best Seller’)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 January 30, 2024 | [Read Online]( ‘Top Rated’ sells better than ‘Best Seller’ People in interdependent cultures (e.g. South America, Asia) are willing to pay up to 28% more for products labeled as ‘Top Rated’ (vs ‘Best Seller’) [Thomas McKinlay]( [fb]( [tw]( [in]( [email](mailto:?subject=Post%20from%20Ariyh&body=%E2%80%98Top%20Rated%E2%80%99%20sells%20better%20than%20%E2%80%98Best%20Seller%E2%80%99%3A%20People%20in%20interdependent%20cultures%20%28e.g.%20South%20America%2C%20Asia%29%20are%20willing%20to%20pay%20up%20to%2028%25%20more%20for%20products%20labeled%20as%20%E2%80%98Top%20Rated%E2%80%99%20%28vs%20%E2%80%98Best%20Seller%E2%80%99%29%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Ftips.ariyh.com%2Fp%2Ftop-rated-sells-better-than-bestseller) New to [Ariyh](? This is a 3min practical summary of a scientific study 🎓 Join 25,678 marketers who use science, not flawed opinions 📈 [Subscribe here]( Today’s insight is brought to you by… [AE Studio]( Unlock Success with AE’s Proven Software & AI Solutions - Trusted by Industry Leaders. Join forces with [AE's world-class team]( for unrivaled business growth: - Efficient MVPs built for your specific use case - Innovative enterprise initiatives for your digital revolution - ROI-driven AI/ML solutions uniquely designed for your business [Book an intro call now]( Want to sponsor Ariyh? [Here’s all you need to know](. 📝 Intro Your US-based ecommerce business is about to expand to South America. You’re also an evidence-based marketer, so you know how much social proof can boost sales. In the past you even A/B tested ‘Best Seller’ vs ‘Most Loved’ labels to highlight your best products. Would people care more about what others liked, or what they bought? The test showed no difference, so you stuck to only using ‘Best Seller’. But now that you’re launching in new markets, that’s worth a rethink. A rethink worth up to 28% higher revenue. Here’s why. P.S.: People want to know what others like. Showing how many likes your product has received can [boost sales up to 49%](. Previous insight: [Apologies work better than compensation]( (all insights [here]() ‘Top Rated’ (vs ‘Best Seller’) labels are more effective for interdependent people Channels: Messaging & Copy | Ecommerce For: B2C. Can be tested for B2B Research date: November 2023 📈 Recommendation When labeling your best products with social proof, use labels that highlight how much people like the product (e.g. ‘Top rated’, ‘Most liked’). People in interdependent cultures (e.g. Asia, South America, Middle East) will be willing to pay more for your product. In independent cultures (e.g. North America, Europe), it will work just as well as highlighting the number of sales (e.g. ‘Best Seller’, ‘Most Sold’). So on average, you are better off using what works better in interdependent cultures. 🎓 Findings - In interdependent cultures, labels like “Top Rated” are more persuasive and sell better than labels like “Best Seller”. In independent cultures both are just as effective. - In 5 experiments and an analysis of over 1,800 products and 8,769 brands, researchers found that: - When products were labeled as “Top Rated” (vs. “Best Selling”): - Indians (interdependent culture) were willing to pay 28% more for a tablet. There was no difference for Americans (independent culture). - Americans with more interdependent personalities (vs independent ones) were willing to pay 29.8% more for a Starbucks gift card. - Interdependent people spent more time viewing product information and showed a higher willingness to pay for headphones. - Brands that are very liked (vs best-selling but not necessarily liked) have higher brand equity in interdependent countries (e.g. Argentina, South Korea) but not in independent countries (e.g. Canada, Germany) 🧠Why it works - Our behavior is shaped by our beliefs (e.g. what is morally right, allowed, common, etc). - In interdependent cultures (e.g. Thailand) people’s behavior is motivated by [conformity]( - They tend to do something because [others did]( it too (e.g. buy a black iPhone), even though their real preference was different (e.g. pink iPhone) - But when observing what others do (e.g. as social proof to understand which is the best product), people from the same culture know that those decisions were biased - So instead they give more weight to what people say they liked (e.g. “Most Liked”), rather than what they bought (e.g. “Best Seller”) - In independent cultures (e.g. United States) people’s preferences tend to [match]( their behavior (e.g. if they like it, they buy it), so both prompts - “Best Seller” and “Most Liked” mean the same thing. 📙 Grow your Ecommerce sales with [Ariyh’s Ecommerce Optimization Playbook]( “Top Rated“ labels increase people’s willingness to pay, but there are many other simple tweaks you can make to boost your sales If you’re in Ecommerce, you’ll find them all - 74 to be exact - in [Ariyh’s Science-based Playbook of Ecommerce Optimization](. Grab your copy - or help out a friend or colleague and gift it to them! [Get the Ecommerce playbook]( This announcement was sponsored. Want your brand here? [Click here](. ✋ Limitations - We don’t know the effect of combining both labels (‘Top Rated’ and ‘Best Seller’). It’s unclear whether it would further increase their effectiveness. - The analysis focused on physical products (e.g. dog shampoo, backpacks, gift cards), but not digital products and services (e.g. subscriptions, software, creative content). - The experiments only considered top selling and top rated products. For products that are not top sellers (but are well rated), focusing on product ratings (rather than sales figures) might be even more effective. - In some regions (e.g. several Middle Eastern countries) neither interdependent nor independent culture is dominant. Presumably, on average, the “Top Rated” label would work better, but this was not tested. 🏢 Companies using this - "Top Rated" labels are relatively rare. "Best Seller" tags are much more common. - Online shopping algorithms tend to make “frequently bought with” suggestions. However “frequently liked” and other preference-based labels are rare. - Retailers, when labeling products as “popular”, rarely make clear distinctions between “often liked” and “often purchased”. - Most online retailers offer best-seller and top-rated filtering options and allow for product sorting according to popularity/ratings. Amazon in India uses “Best Seller” promotion labels. Since it’s an interdependent culture “Top Rated” would perform better. ⚡ Steps to implement - When marketing your products, use labels that highlight how much people like the product (e.g. “Top Rated”, “Most Popular” or “Most liked”). - This is especially important if you market to exclusively interdependent countries. - When marketing to independent cultures any form of social proof ( “Top liked” - how much people like it and “Best Seller” - highlighting the number of sales) will work just as well. - Even if you don't have good sales figures, you can still market by emphasizing high ratings.  - Allow customers to filter and sort your products by both - sales and ratings so they can choose what they like best. - You can keep displaying some [sold-out item options]( to further increase willingness to purchase. 🔍 Study type Online experiments and market observations (of the Brand Equity Ranking of 8,769 brands from 28 industry sectors, and comparison of sales and ratings of 1836 products on sale in Amazon in both India and USA). 📖 Research [Top Rated or Best Seller? Cultural Differences in Responses to Attitudinal versus Behavioral Consensus Cues.]( Journal of Consumer Research (November 2023) 🏫 Researchers - [Aaron J. Barnes](. University of Louisville College of Business. - [Sharon Shavitt](. Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Remember: This is a new scientific discovery. In the future it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s [how science works](). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely. Rate today’s insight to help me make Ariyh's next insights 🎓 even more useful 📈 How was today’s insight? 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