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Retail and Fashion Merchandising: RFM

A Subject Guide for the RFM Major in the school of Human and Consumer Sciences Education in the Patton College of Education

Online Customer Reviews are Biased...

... so they have limited use as a source to prove the quality of the product.  Online reviews are often seeded by professional writers hired to praise (or pan) a product! 

Can You Trust Online Reviews?

What you hope to find are articles about your product written by

  • independent journalists 

  • scientists

  • academics 

We find these in Articles Plus

1. Start with as broad a search as you can conceive for you topic in general:  (Enlarge the page to see the searches.)

2. Next, AND the words "review or analysis" to your search. 

3. Look for an article from an academic journal or a trade journal that examines products or conceptual products and offers data and analysis about what works or does not work.  Here's an example of that sort of article: 

4. This doesn't always work!  Research is seldom that straightforward.  But this is the type of thing you are searching for.  Try Google, too, of course, or ask for help, or email me (saines@ohio.edu) or make an appointment with me (Get help tab on the left of this guide).