buy book review

buy book review

The Importance of Book Reviews for Making Informed Purchase Decisions

1. The Power of Book Reviews

At a basic level, book reviews are a good resource for readers, giving a glimpse into different books, the varying perspectives of the reviewers, and general feel of what other folks’ opinions are on the books. They are a good way to figure out if a book is worth reading or not; lots of books out there are not worth the paper they are written on and a few should even be classified under “crimes against the written word,” because they are so bad. These reviews might save you from wasting your time on something like that, which in and of itself is worth something! Think of book reviews as a tool, something that tells you whether or not a book is worth it. Time is precious, and knowing that something is a waste of time before even testing it out yourself is a great way to get more out of life. There are a lot of people who never read a review because they have already got wind of whether or not a book is worth their time from a friend. While word of mouth is a useful tool in itself, it completely bypasses an entire world of the literary community. Reading a review from someone you don’t know can give you an unbiased opinion about a book. A book review can tell you whether the plot had any kind of twist or was straightforward, if the characters were believable, if the writing was good, and if the reader would recommend it to others. It’s a deeper level of analysis than most people give the books they read and can sometimes unearth things the reader did not even take notice of while reading. Word of mouth might save time, but sometimes word of mouth will also lead to reading a truly terrible book. Any book review, once you find a reviewer who shares your tastes, is incredibly reliable. A person might not always have friends who read the same genres. A book review is a friend for every genre, always there, always reliable, and willing to give all the information on a book, good or bad.

2. How Book Reviews Influence Buying Decisions

The positive correlation between the quality of a review and the purchase of a book is often reflected by the way in which the review is written. When a reviewed work is critically acclaimed, the review itself usually contains a detailed analysis of the quality of writing and content and tries to persuade the reader into thinking that it is a must-read. This type of analysis is more prevalent in reviews found in literary magazines and on the internet, which are more reliable than reviews found on the numerous book review sites out there. Generally, the word of mouth of the book being a good read will incite a purchase from a reader. A positive review will often also give a brief synopsis of the book’s contents and end with the reviewer stating that they enjoyed the book. This is important because many reviews are used to directly compare to other similar works, and the synopsis will show what makes this book different and, in the eyes of the reviewer, better than those others. A successful book will obviously have more reviews saying the same thing. High-profile books will receive more in-depth positive reviews from prestigious sources, where there is a good chance that those reviews will be seen by the casual reader of another magazine section who was not necessarily looking for a review on the book. An informed decision will lead to a purchase, with the more academically inclined trying to find out if it is really a waste of time to skim by reading the review!

Scientists, psychologists, and economists have studied the impact of book reviews for decades, trying to determine how reliable reviewers are and what goes on in the minds of those reading the reviews. Basically, ‘how do book reviews affect book sales, and thus the way writers make a living?’ What they found is that reviews generally are extremely important in affecting the sales of less well-known books. This is likely because, with the explosion of new media in the 20th century, there have been so many sources of entertainment created that it is difficult to keep track of them all. As a result, people are more likely to rely on the opinion of a reviewer to sift through the vast amount of works and tell them which ones are worth their time. This will have a snowball effect for the author as well. If a reviewer convinces a reader to buy a book and they end up liking it, they are likely to spread the good word, which will result in increased sales for the book and possibly the author’s future works.

3. The Role of Book Reviews in Assessing Quality

In terms of the assessment of quality in the sense of content, a review that seriously engages the content of the book and delivers a positive or negative judgement as to its value to those in its discipline is a very useful tool. Unfortunately, many reviews, being written with motives different to the aforementioned and all too often being written in a casual manner concerned with secondary factors, fail to do this. Potential book buyers also vary in the value they place on a book review – academics and students will often be left with no means of assessing the quality of a book on a particular subject without ordering and reading it, and a review can provide a useful summary of its contents.

Wishing to influence a discipline by engaging in sustained argument on a particular point, the author must first convince others in the field of the value of his or her contribution. Publication of a monograph or academic book is an increasingly rare means of doing so. The reviewer often has different aims, be they comment on the book as a means of furthering his or her research interests, getting a first foot on the ladder in the world of book reviews, or perhaps most commonly fulfilling a tight deadline in the least possible time. As noted above, review publication can be the make or break for a PhD student trying to convert the thesis into publishable form.

The role of the book review is to provide a means by which the prospective book-buyer can assess the likely content of a particular volume. In the academic world, a published review is often used to assess an article’s quality. Often the first stage in the publication of scholarly work, it is used by journal editors and others to decide whether a piece is suitable for publication. Given that the point of publication is to make one’s work known to the largest possible audience and to influence the discipline one way or another, the stakes are high. Book reviews are a different matter – because the reviewer’s and the author’s aims are rather different, the usefulness of the review as a means of assessing the book’s quality varies.

4. Understanding the Impact of Positive and Negative Reviews

The impact of positive/negative review is the best way to illustrate the implications of purchase decisions when considering the role of a review. Positive vs. negative comments have differing resulting in process of understanding and trust for an individual. Positive comments are generally simpler to comprehend. They reinforce and inform the consumer of their preconceptions of the product which in turn can cause a short-cutting of the decision making process and often result in a spur of the moment purchase. This concept, called “confirmation theory,” suggests that individuals truly believe in something, they will seek to prove its truth rather than attempt to disprove it. Essentially, someone has already decided whether they want/have no need for a product, and will only look for positive reviews that reflect their already made up mind.

5. Making Smart Choices: Using Book Reviews to Guide Purchases

There are two types of purchase decisions: those made out of habit, and those made from extensive thought and research. The former method is often used when it comes to buying books. Oftentimes the book buyer is lured by an interesting cover, a clever ad, or a catchy promotion which puts a book in the ‘must read’ category, whether it is actually worth the investment or not. Fortunately, for opportunities like these, there are ways to make decisions that will identify good, valuable reads and lead to wise book purchases. Reading a review is a great way to get a summary about a book without having to actually read it. Reviews provide the reader with a good glimpse of the book’s contents and can offer insight about its entertainment or educational value. Consumer book reviews are especially helpful; since their writers have no axe to grind, they tend to be trustworthy providing the reader with the good and bad points of the book. Decisions backed by reviews are more likely to lead to the right purchase. If a positive review is the result of a good interest match and solving the right problem, the customer can rest assured that the book will be a good investment. An informed consumer will feel more satisfaction from the purchase and the value of the book will be realized. A negative review can save a lot of money and anger by preventing the purchase of a book that is not what the buyer expected. This can prevent disappointment with a purchase and lead to better choices on future buys.