Consumers Are Open to AI for User-Generated Content, Report Finds

Majority of consumers would find it helpful if retailer/brand websites provided an AI-powered coach to guide users in leaving high-quality reviews.

Jacqueline Barba

10/26/2023

Bazaarvoice, a product reviews and user-generated content (UGC) solutions provider, released new research exploring consumers’ trust of generative artificial intelligence, and if they would find it useful in assisting with writing product reviews.

For background, generative AI is an advanced technology that uses machines to learn and create content for a specific task, process data and distribute information quickly, as Bazaarvoice describes it in a blog post. The technology is what’s powering popular apps like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Google Bard and Bazaarvoice solutions today.

[Read: Artificial Intelligence in Content Creation]

Based on a survey of more than 9,000 respondents around the world, the report determined that while adoption of generative AI is not very high, it has certainly piqued everyone’s interest.

Only about a third (36%) of people said they have used generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Bard, and of those, 55% would use them again. Fourteen percent of people haven’t used generative AI, but plan to in the future.

Some highlights from the report include:

Generative AI could help consumers who struggle to write reviews: 68% of respondents said they sometimes feel unsure about what information to share when writing a review and what would be helpful to other customers.
Consumers are open to AI assistance for writing product reviews: 67% said that it would be at least somewhat helpful if an e-commerce site provided an AI-powered coach to guide users in leaving high-quality reviews.
Many consumers would trust AI assistance in the Q&A section of websites: When asked about a product on a brand or retailer’s website, 45% would trust an AI-generated answer that they receive immediately and 36% said maybe, depending on the answer.
Half (49%) of the respondents said they would like to write a review on a website that uses generative AI to help them determine what to write.

“AI is an incredibly powerful and vibrant tool, but it’s just that – a tool, not a strategy,” Zarina Lam Stanford, chief marketing officer, Bazaarvoice, said in a media release. “With that in mind, brands and retailers need to find strategic applications for this tool. While utilizing AI to its fullest extent, brands and retailers must ensure authenticity is practiced to protect brand safety, integrity and equity. Trust is the most precious currency, and AI should not ever be used to replace the genuine and authentic voices of consumers.”

This report was released in conjunction with the announcement of Bazaarvoice’s AI Center of Excellence, an internal team consisting of all key disciplines, which was created to provide company-wide guidance and leadership on all things AI, per the release. The company’s goal is to drive product innovation that is built “safely and securely.”

Research methodology
The research was commissioned by Bazaarvoice and conducted in July 2023 by Savanta among 9,080 consumers from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S.