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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

I'm another person who seeks out well written negative reviews when buying products, but I think there might a hidden irrationality there as well,- that of believing every story must have two sides and that nothing could be that perfect. Reading a trustworthy negative review dispels the niggling feeling that there must be some hidden flaw in the product, since unlike a well written positive review they aren't trying to justify their purchase. So it's a kind of "better the devil you know" phenomenon, only even more absurd than usual.

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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

Negative reviews are very useful (in helping me make a favorable choice) if the review is detailed but picky on dimensions I don't care about.

For example, someone who isn't much of an ethnic foodie might go to a restaurant which said:

"Elegant presentation, ok prices, and good service, but shockingly banal food. I thought the attempt to serve spicy kidneys on toast with ice cream was a flawed afterthought but I suppose it's ok if you just want a good hamburger and a somewhat pretentious milkshake. Don't try to order wine."

Or conversely, I've seen reviews of very good but unusual Chinese restaurants panned by people looking for moo goo gai pan, chow mein, or sweet & sour pork who aren't happy. In those cases, the negatives are clear positives.

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