Are users more inclined to submit a review if the option is provided?

Question

I'm designing for mobile and trying to determine if its really worth providing a link to reviewing it within the app store (e.g. the link would read, Review This App). Yes you can say that it helps more than it hurts to actually have the option present but statistically is there proof that users are more inclined to do so?

Keep in mind usually links like these are most likely nested in some sort of settings menu. From my perspective if the user is in the settings menu they are trying to fine-tune their in-app experience vs going out of their way to perform a task that's outside of their primary objective.

Answer 1

I can attest from experience that in apps or mobile & desktop sites, prompting users to leave reviews does lead to a greater numbers of reviews being left.

The key is to prompt users at the right times. For example, in an ecommerce context, after the product has been received, for job search, when the candidate has been offered a position. These points are when the user is best disposed to your app / service and will act out of a sense of reciprocity. It will also ensure the reviews are more positive.

Answer 2

I'm not sure that a link will make anyone more inclined to leave a review, but it will definitely make them more likely to leave one.

You don't need it, you see it, you buy it

One of the most important concepts in UX is visibility - whether or not users are aware of the options they are facing, or the actions they can take. Another aspect here is serendipity - the discovery of options you weren't aware of.

The brain is an associative machine that has a really bad short-term memory. There's a momentous psychological concept in play here, which explains, for instance, why most people buy in supermarket more than what's on their shopping list - you may not remember you need something, but seeing it will make you want it. Similarly, if you think for a second what cloths you need, you may have 2 items in your wish list, but if you just go with your fiancée to fashion shops, you are likely to buy many things you didn't actually think you'd need.

What may go in users' brain

So with a link, it goes like this:

• "Oh, there's a review link here; I really like this app but it's missing something, let's leave feedback."

Without the link, it goes like this:

(The user is doing something else)

I hope that explains it.

(As for the link location - this is a completely different issue and the question is whether you want users to leave feedback in the first place. I believe that a new question is appropriate if you wish to learn about strategies to achieve that.)