Apparently, my Schick review was excellent.
You may remember my review of the Schick Hydro a few weeks
ago. You may also remember that I did
this as part of a BzzAgent campaign.
Essentially, they send me the free sample, ask me to write a review and
post it on social media. This not
sponsored by the manufacturer (e.g. Schick) so there is no quid pro quo to
write something positive. But to keep my
status as a reviewer, I need to write “high-quality” reviews. BzzAgent has a staff that reads my reviews
and rates them.
So was my review helpful?
Several of you commented or Liked it, so that suggests it was. I got my grade from the BzzAgent staff and
they said my review was “excellent.”
So what is the point?
I wanted to introspect a little and see if I could find any influence of
this process on my opinions. Was my
review of the Schick influenced by the fact that I got it free? By the fact that I wrote and posted a
review? Does the praise from BzzAgent rub
off on my opinion of Schick? Did I unconsciously feel like I had to write a
good review to get more free stuff?
I don’t think any of these influences happened. But of course, self-delusion is rarely
conscious so it could have worked some magic under my skin. Or perhaps I am just an old cynical curmudgeon
and less susceptible to this kind of influence, whereas others might be.
