Once you find the reviews you want to work with, you may want to respond to unanswered questions, address consumer complaints, or browse positive feedback to learn about marketable product strengths pointed out by consumers.

To interact with your reviews:

  • Click the check box next to a review. This allows you to Approve or Reject the selected review.
  • Create a report of selected reviews by clicking Export above the review list. Alternatively, click Export All to create a report of all reviews.
  • Click the title of a review to view its details, which are described in the following image.
Content details window
  1. View Product ID and other product information associated with the review.
    Tip: Click the product link to open the product details page.
  2. View contributor information, which may include an email address that you can use to correspond directly with the reviewer.
  3. View review content and the review ID.
  4. Post a public response to the contributor.
    Note: This functionality is unavailable with your existing plan. Complete these steps to respond to a review.
  5. View moderation status and date submitted.
  6. View codes applied to the review during Bazaarvoice moderation.
    Tip: Hover over the moderation codes to see their full names. If your administrator has assigned you the proper permissions, you can apply or overwrite moderation codes yourself. However, the general best practice is to accept the selections made by the Bazaarvoice moderators. If you find that you often disagree with how reviews are classified, contact Bazaarvoice to revisit your moderation guidelines.
  7. Email the review to other members of your team.
  8. Browse through the reviews.
  9. Approve or reject the review.
    Tip: Similar to moderation codes, the best practice is to accept the selection made by the Bazaarvoice moderators. If you find that you often disagree with how reviews are classified, contact Bazaarvoice Support to revisit your moderation guidelines.

Respond to negative reviews

Consumers provide product feedback and insights. In return, they want responses that demonstrate you are listening and acting on input. By responding to negative reviews, you can increase consumer satisfaction and confidence, manage expectations, and provide information about future product improvements. You can also discuss consumer success stories, suggest products that complement the reviewed product, or provide answers to questions in a review to encourage additional purchases.

Negative reviews fall into two general categories:

  • Reviews that cite a specific product or service issue that can be addressed. These reviews are sometimes referred to as actionable negative reviews.
  • Reviews that include an abstract grievance that is difficult to address. These reviews are often labeled non-actionable.

Choose a response interval that takes into account the volume of reviews and the availability of staff to respond. A routine interval may be daily or weekly. Additionally, stay alert for reviews that point to potential liability issues. These reviews should be flagged for further consideration by your company’s legal department.

Filter reviews for response

You can find reviews that need responses in several ways. One fast way is to search for all reviews with low ratings. Watch the following video to learn how to find and respond to one- and two-star reviews.


You can also search for keywords in the search field, indicated by the magnifying glass icon. Try terms like “broken,” “difficult,” or “disappointed” to find negative reviews that might need a response. To clear a keyword search, delete the search terms from the search field, then click the magnifying glass icon.

Additionally, you can use the word cloud feature to view words frequently used in your negative reviews and use those words to narrow your search.

  1. Use these filtering techniques first.
  2. Click Word Cloud. A new window opens that displays word clouds for both positive and negative reviews, and lists highlights and lowlights from the filtered reviews.
    • Page through the highlight and lowlight reviews using the arrows above each list, or
    • Click a word displayed in the cloud to see a list of reviews that contain that word.
  3. Click a filtered review to see the full review.

Compose review responses

After you find a review that needs a response, complete these steps to write a response:

  1. Hover over the review and click Show Details. If available, the reviewer’s email address will be listed with the reviewer’s nickname.
  2. Copy and paste the email address into your email client. For security and privacy reasons, use an email alias, such as CustomerService@Acme.com, in the Reply-To field of your email.
  3. Craft your response, keeping the following best practices in mind:
    • Avoid a canned response, which can seem impersonal. Instead, be authentic and transparent.
    • Empathize with the reviewer’s frustration.
    • Provide a short-term solution, such as:
      • Recommending a product better suited for the reviewer’s use case.
      • Providing a customer care number and suggesting appropriate next steps.
    • Let the reviewer know how your company plans to resolve systemic problems or design issues.
    • Share any upcoming changes to this product.
    • If the problem cannot be resolved, apologize to the reviewer and offer a coupon or refund as a gesture of sincerity.

Create a report of reviews that need responses

Watch the following video to learn how to create a report containing all your products’ negative reviews and how to share that report with teams responsible for customer outreach.