Highly Recommended:
The Influence and Impact of Online
Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
Prepared by Kingsley Associates on behalf of Apartment Guide | June 2014
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
1
Contents
3
Executive Summary
4
About the Survey
5
Renters and Search Patterns: Customers on the Move
7
Authenticity and Influence in Apartment Ratings and Reviews
9
Ratings and Reviews Posting Habits and Future Search Trends
11
Conclusion
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
2
Executive Summary
Ratings and reviews are upon multifamily. What began as peer review of merchandise and services decades
ago on websites like Amazon.com and Yelp (among others) has matured into industry-dedicated online
arenas for the thumbs up and thumbs down of brands, products and their associated customer experience.
Popularity of the so-called “Zero Moment of Truth” and broad consumer indices and research also point
squarely to ratings and reviews as a necessary component of a 21st century, online free enterprise economy.
This is not to say the apartment industry has been bereft in its response to online ratings and reviews of
rental communities. On the contrary, much attention has been focused on how ratings and reviews might
impact both prospect and resident sentiment, and to what degree ratings and reviews data might influence
leasing decisions for the better or for the worse.
For several years, apartment owners and managers have made do with broad consumer data regarding
ratings and reviews on generic purchasing decisions. Tidbits of data specific to apartment ratings and reviews
have emerged from disparate surveys on broader industry subjects, or from research motivated by the sale
of ratings and reviews products and services. But multifamily has up to now been without a comprehensive
and definitive, industry-only report on the impact and influence of ratings and reviews to residents during
their search for a new apartment.
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings and Reviews on Apartment Searchers
collects data on all aspects of ratings and reviews as it pertains to a customer’s search for a new apartment.
The study examines conversion influence, the posting of online ratings and reviews, and the propensity for
apartment seekers to rely on ratings and reviews during future apartment searches, and highlights exclusive
findings including:
• 69.3 percent of apartment shoppers currently use ratings and reviews in their search process.
• 89 percent of apartment residents think they can spot a fake review.
• Apartment seekers rely on ratings and reviews more often than word-of-mouth referral from family
and friends to find an apartment.
• A clear majority of apartment searchers distrust anonymous ratings and reviews. Only 1.3 percent say
they are much more likely to trust anonymous posts over those that had been third-party certified.
• Women are more likely than men to leave either a mostly negative or a mostly positive review.
In all, findings in the survey indicate a broad-based need for a well-executed and synchronized ratings
and reviews strategy among apartment owners and managers. The strategy should incorporate third-party
certification, the opportunity for community manager response, and the integration of ratings and reviews
content with highly sought after online advertising factors like location, price, amenities, and unit availability.
Opportunities also exist in leveraging the vast majority of current apartment residents who have yet to
provide a review of their community, and in monitoring and managing ratings and reviews exposure from
residents who are either up for renewal or have already made a decision (and a corresponding apartment
search) to lease elsewhere.
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
3
About the Survey
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings and Reviews on Apartment Searchers is a
report on an Apartment Guide sponsored survey conducted by leading multifamily research firm Kingsley
Associates, and represents responses from 29,907 current apartment residents. Data was collected via
online surveys in April 2014 from residents at communities across the United States. Multifamily firms
participating in the survey included Alliance Residential, AMLI
Apartment Resident/Searcher
Residential, AvalonBay Communities, Bell Partners, Berkshire
Age Demographics
Property Advisors, Gables Residential, Home Properties, Post
■ Under 25
■ 35-44
■ 55-64
Properties, and Waterton Residential.
■ 25-34
■ 45-54
■ 65+
In general, survey respondents mirror apartment resident
demographics, and belong to younger age demographics,
with 50.9 percent of respondents falling into a broadly defined
Generation Y cohort that includes respondents under 25 years
of age (11.9 percent) and those between the ages of 25 and 34 (39
percent). Almost one-fifth (19.4 percent) of survey respondents
identify with a Generation X cohort between 35 and 44 years of
age. Beyond Generation X, 14.1 percent of respondents fall into
the 45-54 years of age bracket and another 10.5 percent fall into
a Baby Boomer demographic between 55 and 64 years of age.
Only 5.2 percent of respondents are 65 years of age or older.
10.5%
14.1%
39%
11.9%
5.2%
19.4%
While all age demographics tend to follow the aggregate data
trends on questions regarding apartment search and the use of
ratings and reviews, some statistical differences are seen when younger generations are compared to older
generations regarding ratings and reviews during the search process.
Apartment Resident/Searcher
In particular, younger residents rank online ratings and reviews higher
Gender Demographics
than older residents do. However, residents from 25-44 are most likely
to want to see 11 or more reviews for them to be useful. Also, whether
40.8%
59.2%
or not communities respond to online reviews becomes more and more
important as resident age increases.
Likewise, men and women survey respondents both tend to mirror aggregate data scores concerning ratings
and reviews, despite a much larger proportion of female to male respondents in the survey. In at least one
area (see Gender Difference in Posting Positive and Negative Reviews, pg. 10), men and women show some
statistical differences, with women more likely to post both mostly negative and mostly positive reviews while
men were more likely than females to post neutral reviews.
Women are also more greatly impacted by the quality (positive vs. negative) of the reviews. That is, for
women the likelihood of considering a community drops more when the reviews are generally negative and,
likewise, it increases to a greater degree when reviews are generally positive.
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
4
1. Renters and Search Patterns:
Customers on the Move
Regardless of age or gender, 21st Century renters are highly mobile consumers. Compared to single-family
homeowners saddled with the purchase/sale of real estate as a condition of relocating, apartment renters
seem to take advantage of their freedom to move around as job opportunities and changes in lifestyle or
household formation dictate.
In fact, more than two-thirds (71. 6 percent) of renters surveyed in the study say they’ve only lived in their
current apartment for two years or less, with somewhat equally-sized groups reporting having lived in their
current apartment between zero and six months
Apartment Resident Length of Stay
(23.2 percent), between seven and 12 months
■ 0-6 Months ■ 7-12 Months ■ 1-2 Years ■ 2+ Years
(24.5 percent) or between one and two years (23.9
percent). Only 28.4 percent of respondents report a
23.2%
24.5%
23.9%
28.4%
length of stay longer than two years.
Not surprising, given such average lengths of stay,
the majority of survey respondents have also conducted an apartment search within the past year, with 23.8
percent having conducted a search within the past six months, another 8.3 percent having conducted an
apartment search within the past month, and 11.4 percent reporting that they are currently searching for an
apartment.
This last group ranked the importance of ratings and reviews in their search process (including the influence
of both positive and negative reviews) somewhat differently than other sub groups, including the additional
18.8 percent of respondents who had conducted an apartment search seven to 12 months ago, the 17.1
percent reporting an apartment search during the last 12 to 24 months, and the 20.7 percent of respondents
who reported a two years or more period since their last apartment search.
In particular, respondents who
How Long Since Your Last Apartment Search?
were currently searching for an
Currently
Within the
1-6
7-12
1-2
apartment were more likely to
Searching
Past Month
Months Ago
Months Ago
Years Ago
11.4%
8.3%
23.8%
18.8%
17.1%
have posted a review of their
current apartment community
online, and the nature of the
review was more likely to be negative than among any other statistical cohort.
2+
Years Ago
20.7%
When booting up an apartment search, the use of online search engines is still popular among survey
respondents, with Google owning a near monopoly of rental prospect search engine loyalty. Racking up a
full 21,877 respondents, Google dwarfs all other search engines in popularity, with a hodge-podge of “Other”
search engines accounting for usage among 3,072 respondents and only 2,537 and 1,632 respondents using
Yahoo or Bing, respectively.
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
5
Google
Popularity and Usefulness of
Internet Search Engines
Google also scores highest for usefulness and effectiveness
among survey respondents, with Yahoo and Bing tying for
second on scales asking respondents to rate their search engine
experience on a scale from 1 to 5.
As much as apartment searchers seem allied to Google as a
search engine when looking for an apartment (boosting the
Yahoo
impact of Google-related search engine optimization efforts),
Bing
they’re also heavily dependent on online ratings and reviews
Ask
during the search process. According to the survey, more
than two-thirds of respondents (69.3
When searching for your
percent) say they researched ratings and reviews when searching for their current
current apartment, did
apartment.
Other
In fact, respondents place a higher importance on ratings and reviews in the
apartment search process than word-of-mouth referral from family and friends.
Of the two most important items to apartment seekers during their search process,
both community location (ranked as the most or second most important factor by
75.5 percent of respondents) and apartment price (ranked as the most or second
most important factor by 70.1 percent of respondents) are also features ostensibly
covered in the content of an online rating and/or review.
you research community
ratings and reviews?
No
30.7%
Yes
69.3%
In-person property visits and tours also rank high as an important item to
apartment seekers, offering insight into the critical first point of contact and the
associated “Zero Moment of Truth” customer service experiences that quite often drive both extremely
positive and negative reviews of a community and its onsite staff.
Please rank the importance of the following items in the apartment search process.
75.5%
Location
70.1%
Price
23.6%
In-Person Property Visit/Tour
14.1%
Community’s Website
Other
Community’s Online Ratings and Reviews
Referral from Family or Friends
11.8%
11.4%
9.5%
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
6
2. Authenticity and Influence in
Apartment Ratings and Reviews
Ratings and reviews beginning to enter the same conversation as
location and price among apartment searchers underscores how
influential the medium has become in the selection of a home to rent.
Almost as many respondents (23,336 versus 23,855) mention ratings
and reviews as frequently as community websites with photos, floor
plans and unit availability as important in their search process.
A majority (64.2 percent) of survey respondents count ratings and
reviews as one of many factors influencing their decision to lease an
apartment, and nearly a quarter (23.4 percent) say ratings and reviews
are one of the most important factors influencing their decision. While
still somewhat small, a critical minority of almost 1,000 respondents
(3.8 percent) say reviews are the primary factor driving their decision,
offering apartment marketers a clear case for implementing strategic
ratings and reviews programs for the 91.4 percent of apartment
hunters who are relying on ratings and reviews in some manner to help
influence their ultimate leasing decision.
Influence of Ratings and Reviews
on Decision to Lease
■ Not a factor
■ One of many factors
■ One of the Most Important
■ Primary Factor
8.6%
3.8%
23.4%
64.2%
Still, respondents say not all online reviews are created equal. Multiple
factors including the number of reviews a community has, the spread
between positive and negative reviews, and whether or not property managers respond to reviews all effect
the overall weighting and influence of ratings and reviews content.
When it comes to review count, respondents seem to favor a sweet spot between half a dozen and two dozen
reviews for any particular community. When asked how many ratings and reviews a community needs to
have in order to be seen as useful or influential to the leasing decision, 33.4 percent opt for a range of six to
10 reviews, and another 32.4 percent select a range of 11-25 reviews.
Only 17.3 percent of respondents say one to five reviews is sufficient enough to consider those reviews
as useful or influential, indicating a general preference for a critical mass of review content in the middle
bands. Similarly, only 16.8 percent of respondents look for more than 26 reviews, perhaps suggesting that an
overload of review content may in fact be either unnecessary or seen as a distraction rather than a positive
influence on the apartment searcher’s selection process.
How Many Reviews Does a Community Need to Have?
■ 1-5
17.3%
■ 6-10
33.4%
■ 11-25
■ 26+
32.4%
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
16.8%
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Positivity of online ratings and reviews count a lot in the apartment searcher’s mind, and even though a
substantial amount of survey respondents (83.7 percent) say they are more likely to consider a community
with all positive reviews, a slightly larger number of respondents (86.2 percent) say they’d be more likely to
consider a community with a mixture of almost all positive and
some negative reviews. More than one-quarter (26.3 percent) of
When searching for an apartment, are
you more or less likely to consider a
respondents say they are more likely to consider a community
community when:
when it has a mix of positive and negative reviews. Three percent
or less of respondents were likely to be influenced to rent at a
A community has all negative reviews
2.9%
community when it had all negative reviews (2.9 percent) or
A community has almost exclusively
almost exclusively all negative reviews (3 percent).
negative reviews
3.0%
A community has a mix of positive
and negative reviews
26.3%
A community has almost exclusively
positive reviews
86.2%
A community has all positive reviews
83.7%
Part of the reasoning for searchers expecting some level of
negative reviews—and possibly gravitating toward reviews that
offer less than 100 percent positive feedback—likely revolves
around the issue of authenticity on various online review sites.
National media coverage of the impact of ratings and reviews on
consumer purchasing and the advent of “fake” online ratings and
reviews for businesses and services have many shoppers tunedin to the authenticity of ratings and reviews.
In fact, 69.4 percent of survey respondents say it’s easy,
moderately easy, or very easy to spot a fake or unauthentic
review, regardless of whether the review is either positive or
negative of the community and its levels of customer service
and satisfaction. An additional 26.5 percent say spotting a
fake review is “hard,” but only 4.1 percent of respondents
say spotting an unauthentic review is “very hard.”
The Ease in Spotting Fake and Unauthentic Reviews
Very
Easy
6.8%
Moderately Easy
48.1%
When reviews are certified by an outside or independent
source (proving, for instance, that a reviewer currently lives
or has actually lived in the community, that the review is a
truthful opinion and not driven by malice, etc.), apartment
searchers become even more vocal regarding authenticity, with
a clear majority (53 percent) reporting that they’d either be less likely or
much less likely to trust anonymous reviews compared to reviews that had
been certified.
Easy
14.6%
Hard
26.5%
Very
Hard
4.1%
Only six percent of respondents noted a preference for anonymous reviews over certified reviews, and
only 1.3 percent say they are much more likely to trust anonymous posts over those that had been thirdparty certified.
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
8
Compared to certified ratings and reviews
that are attributed to the reviewer, how
much do you trust anonymous online
ratings and reviews?
Much Less
Likely 19%
Less Likely
34.1%
The Same
39.6%
More
Likely 6%
Much More
Likely 1.3%
Apartment searchers also place high value on community
response and interaction within their ratings and reviews
platforms, where a majority of respondents (69.5 percent) say they
expect apartment communities to respond to ratings and reviews
online. However, some age demographics showed differentiation
in the level of expectation versus other age groups. While 35.6
percent of respondents say they expect interaction and indicate
community engagement was also “important” to them, only 27.7
percent of respondents under age 25 feel so.
Conversely, older age groups show a much higher propensity
to both expect community responses, and to consider those
responses important, including 40.2 percent of the 45-54 age bracket and 39.5 percent of the 55-64 age
bracket within the broader Baby Boomer demographic cohort.
Importance of Community Response to Ratings and Reviews
Do you expect apartment
communities to interact and
respond online to their ratings
and reviews?
Overall
Under 25
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Yes, and it is important to me
35.6%
27.7%
33.6%
38.4%
40.2%
39.5%
37.2%
Yes, but it is not important to me
33.9%
38.9%
36.5%
32.9%
30.5%
29.5%
25.8%
No, but it is important to me
12.4%
12.2%
11.6%
12.2%
11.9%
14.3%
17.5%
No, and it is not important to me
18.1%
21.2%
18.4%
16.5%
17.4%
16.7%
19.6%
3. Ratings and Reviews Posting
Habits and Future Search Trends
For all of the reliance on ratings and reviews during the search process, however, most
residents responding to the survey say that have yet to post an online rating or review
for an apartment community – with 25.7 percent reporting having posted a review
and 74.3 percent saying they have not.
This latter group likely represents the most compelling opportunity for apartment
owners and managers: specifically as they look to gain the volume of ratings and
reviews necessary for perceived authenticity among apartment searchers, (see How
Many Reviews Does a Community Need to Have? pg. 7), the three-quarters of
residents who have yet to provide reviews are an untapped audience for generating
online review content, specifically when provided through a third-party service
providing certification of reviews prior to posting.
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
Have you ever
posted an online
rating or review
for an apartment
community?
Yes
25.7%
No
74.3%
9
Residents who have posted a review also characterize their review content as neutral (43 percent),
somewhat positive (14.1 percent) or mostly positive (21.8 percent). Only 11 percent of respondents say
they’ve posted a somewhat negative review, and an even smaller portion (10.2 percent) admit to posting a
mostly negative review.
For apartment owners and managers dealing with mostly negative reviews, further examination of their
strategic positioning may be necessary, specifically with an eye towards implementing a certified review
process or program. While some modesty may be at work in residents not owning up to negative reviews,
another real and likely possibility is a pattern of unauthentic and anonymous reviews needlessly affecting
community reputation.
Some gender differences are also exhibited when posting online reviews of apartment communities. Among
those respondents who say they’ve posted an online review, women were more likely than men to post both
mostly positive and mostly negative reviews, whereas men generally fall more towards the neutral or only
somewhat positive or somewhat negative review categories.
Likewise, whether or not a
survey respondent is currently
Mostly Negative
8.5%
11.4%
10.2%
searching for a new apartment
Somewhat Negative
11.3%
10.8%
11%
has an impact on whether
Neutral
44.2%
42%
43%
or not they report posting
Somewhat Positive
16.3%
12.2%
14.1%
online ratings and reviews for
Mostly Positive
19.7%
23.5%
21.8%
their community. Of the 11.4
percent of survey respondents who say they are currently searching for a new apartment, more than a third
(33.9 percent) say they have posted a review online.
Was your review positive or negative?
Male
Female
Overall
Additionally, the nature of the review posted by a resident currently searching for a new apartment is much
more likely to be negative and much less likely to be positive than other respondent groups. These findings
indicate the lease renewal window is a critical time for apartment owners to proactively manage and monitor
their online ratings and reviews exposure.
Have you ever posted an online rating or review
for an apartment community?
Overall
Yes 25.7%
No 74.3%
Yes 33.9%
No 66.1%
Currently Searching for an Apartment
As residents become a more critical part of the
apartment community ratings and reviews process, so
too are they more apt to rely on ratings and reviews in
their next apartment search. Only 8.1 percent of survey
respondents say they probably will not rely on ratings
and reviews during their next apartment search, with a
meager 2.6 percent saying they definitely will not rely on
ratings and reviews.
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
10
How likely are you to consult online
community ratings and reviews in your
next apartment search?
■ Definitely Will Not
■ Probably Will Not
■ Unsure
■ Probably Will
■ Definitely Will
The remaining majority (89.3 percent) of respondents range
from unsure to definite on their future use of ratings and
reviews in the apartment search process, with the largest
number of respondents (40.3 percent) indicating they
probably will consult online ratings and reviews and another
27.9 percent saying they definitely will consult ratings and
reviews in their next apartment search.
40.3%
Among age demographics, younger residents under 25 were
the most likely (72.1 percent) to say they would probably or
definitely consult online ratings and reviews in their next
apartment search. Respondents in the 25-34 age bracket
8.1%
were also more likely (71.5 percent) to probably or definitely
2.6%
consult ratings and reviews in their next search, followed by
the 35-44 bracket (67.6 percent), the 45-54 bracket (65.2 percent), the 55-64 bracket (64.9 percent), and the
over 65 years of age bracket (53.4 percent).
21.1%
27.9%
Respondents who were currently searching for an apartment were also more likely to say they will probably
or definitely consult online ratings and reviews in their next apartment search (69.8 percent), while residents
who have lived in their apartment for two years or more were only slightly less likely to say so (64.1 percent).
Conclusion
Overall, more than two-thirds of multifamily apartment residents say they used online ratings and reviews
during their last apartment search, and an additional 68.2 percent likewise say they intend to rely on ratings and
reviews during their next apartment search, as well.
Online apartment community ratings and reviews are also highly influential in the community selection process,
with only 8.6 percent of apartment searchers saying reviews are not influential to their purchasing. A small
minority of apartment searchers now exists who claim that ratings and reviews are the primary factor in where
they decide to lease, and a vast majority of survey respondents (87.6 percent) say ratings and reviews are one of
several factors or are one of the most important factors influencing their decision of where to rent an apartment.
Even while residents feel they can easily spot fake or unauthentic reviews, a majority nevertheless prefers that
online apartment community ratings and reviews be third-party certified, with most apartment shoppers
indicating distrust of anonymous or uncertified online review content.
In addition to implementing review certification programs, apartment owners and operators can improve the
consumer perception of community ratings and reviews by presenting a manageable (but not too small) number
of reviews representing mixed but mostly positive perspectives on community life and customer service.
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
11
A significant portion of current residents say they have not posted reviews, offering an untapped source of
review volume for companies and communities looking to improve critical mass of authentic reviews.
As apartment search becomes more digital, mobile and streamlined, community ratings and reviews are expected
to only increase in importance, influence, and impact on leasing and renewal decisions. Further iterations of
this report on the state of ratings and reviews in multifamily real estate will look to examine the changes over
time to the baselines established and assembled here.
If you would like to participate in future ratings and reviews research for the apartment industry, please
contact Kingsley Associates. If you would like more information on establishing a ratings and reviews
strategy at your company or community, please call your Apartment Guide Sales Executive or email us at
CR3@apartmentguide.com.
About Apartment Guide
Apartment Guide is the nation’s No. 1 online marketing solutions provider that connects apartment consumers to
their ideal place to live. With an unmatched search capability, amplified by constantly refined tools and industry
insights, Apartment Guide provides consumers with a clear and simple guide to apartment living through
content-rich apartment listings in a user-friendly format with Internet, mobile and social media solutions.
Leading the industry with first-to-market mobile introductions of iPad®, iPhone® and Android™ applications, as
well as Apartment Guide Reputation Monitor® and Apartment Guide SocialMedia Manager®, Apartment Guide’s
multi-platform search capability allows renters and property managers to connect wherever they are, whenever
they want, in the medium that works best for them. The brand’s commitment to maximizing owner and manager
value makes Apartment Guide a leading multifamily housing industry partner.
Apartment Guide is a division of RentPath, Inc., with headquarters in Norcross, Georgia (outside of Atlanta). For
more information, visit ApartmentGuide.com or for advertising information, visit ListOnApartmentGuide.com.
Also, for additional insight on moving and more, visit Apartment Guide’s blog ApartmentGuide.com/blog and
connect with Apartment Guide on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and Google+.
About Kingsley Associates
The most successful firms in real estate rely on Kingsley Associates for cutting-edge business intelligence
solutions. Kingsley Associates’ services include annual resident satisfaction assessments as well as event-driven
surveys focused on specific lifecycle interactions (prospect, move in, renewal, work order and move out). In
2013, Kingsley surveyed over 2.7 million current and prospective residents on behalf of its clients and is home to
the deepest and most sophisticated benchmarking tool, the Kingsley Index. Kingsley Associates also provides:
client perception studies, strategic consulting and operations benchmarking services. To learn more, please visit
our website KingsleyAssociates.com or our blog KingsleyInsight.com.
Highly Recommended: The Influence and Impact of Online Ratings & Reviews on Apartment Searchers
© Apartment Guide and Kingsley Associates, 2014
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