ARE ONLINE SERVICE OR PRODUCT REVIEWS USEFUL? This is Part One of a three part series. It discusses what is, in effect, the driving force of reading online reviews of products and services – that is when money is scarce, no one wants to make a bad purchase. John Penrose thinks it’s a good idea, but do we? The new UK Government’s minister of tourism thinks that phasing out the existing star rating system for hotels makes a lot of sense because it’s “out of date” and “doesn’t reflect value for money or what guests want”. He argues that consumer-led reviews on the Internet are...