Page 42 - Decoding Decisions ~ Making sense of the messy middle
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42 CHAPTER 3 INVESTIGATING THE MESSY MIDDLE
For example, if we look at the top UK search queries of the past 10 years in
the computers and electronics category, of the top 10 related to “best”, only
one contains the name of a manufacturer or product brand (“best ipad”). In
contrast, all but two of the top 10 search queries related to “review” contain
the name of a company or product brand, with the exceptions being the top
two results (“laptop review” and “headphones review”, figure 16).
Figure 16
review best
Top 10 queries related to ‘review’ Top 10 queries related to ‘best’
laptop review, headphones best apps, best camera,
review, ipad review, ps4 review, best laptop, best tv, best pc,
kindle review, kindle fire review, best headphones, best tablet,
lenovo yoga review, galaxy note best ipad, best laptops,
review, microsoft surface review, best speakers
kindle fire hd review
Reviews are also a prevalent feature of the automotive category, with a
similar trend visible in the combination of modifiers and brands (along with a
few authoritative websites and magazines). The modifier “review” provides
us with a clear example of shoppers actively seeking out authoritative
viewpoints to boost confidence during decision-making.
Unlike “best”, the fact that “review” searches typically contain the names of
specific brands and products hints that review searches on the whole are
more evaluative than exploratory. In many cases it appears that people have
one or more potential brands and models in mind, and are looking for further
information to help evaluate which would be the better choice.
As these and similar examples from this chapter show, the presence of
brands is often evaluative, especially in conjunction with a specific product
name. However, it is important to note that by itself, the presence of a brand
term in a query is insufficient to signal the shopper’s mental mode.
Data source: Google Trends, United Kingdom, 1st January 2011–1st January 2020, Computers & Electronics category, Web Search.
Negative keyword “-buy” applied to searches containing “best”.
