Trust, Reviews & Ratings

This short survey is part of a national study on how consumers in the UK use trust marks, star ratings and online reviews to make decisions. Your honest answers help us understand what Britain really relies on.

Please enter your Prolific ID to begin

You can find this on your Prolific dashboard. This is required to validate your submission.

Please enter your Prolific ID to continue.

Part 1 of 3: Recognising Trust Marks

You'll see 13 badges, one at a time. For each one, tell us how familiar you are with it.

Badge 1 of 13

How familiar are you with this mark?

Select one

Part 2 of 3: Who Do You Trust?

Five quick scenarios. For each one, tap the options in the order you'd trust them, most trusted first.

Tap a ranked item to undo. If you haven't heard of something, put it near the bottom.

Part 2 of 3: Who Do You Trust?

Tap in order, most trusted first. Tap a ranked item to undo.

0 of 0 ranked

Please rank every item to continue.

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Roughly what percentage of reviews on each of these platforms do you think are fake or manipulated in some way?

Choose one bracket per platform

Please answer for every platform.

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

To post a review on each of these platforms, does the reviewer need to have actually used the business or product?

Choose one answer per platform

Please answer for every platform.

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Do you trust online reviews and ratings more, less, or about the same as you did 3 years ago?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

What's the main reason?

☑ Pick up to 2 (0 of 2 selected)

Please select at least one option.

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

In your everyday life, how confident are you that you could spot a fake trust mark or badge?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Since April 2025, businesses in the UK can be fined up to 10% of their global turnover for commissioning fake reviews. Were you aware of this?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Now that you know, does this make you trust online reviews more?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Based only on the ratings and reviews shown, which would you choose?

Choice 1 of 8

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Have you ever been let down by a product or service that had excellent online reviews?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Did you later suspect the reviews may have been fake or manipulated?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Have you ever used an AI chatbot (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot) to help you research a product, service, or purchase?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Why did you use it?

☑ Select all that apply

Please select at least one option.

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Do you think AI is making it harder to tell whether online reviews and ratings can be trusted?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Have you ever checked whether a trust mark, badge, or certification you saw was genuine, for example, by clicking on it or looking it up on another site?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

How often do you do this?

Select one

Which mark or badge did you check most recently?

Start typing to search, or scroll the list

Please answer both questions to continue.

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

In the last 12 months, roughly how much have you spent on products or services that turned out to be worse than their online reviews suggested?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

How did this make you feel?

☑ Pick 1 to 2 (0 of 2 selected)

Thinking about the worst example, did you get your money back?

Select one

Please answer both questions to continue.

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

Do you agree that it's becoming nearly impossible to know what's genuine online?

Select one

Part 3 of 3: Your Views

What do you think is the main reason?

Pick one

Almost done: One last question

What is your total annual household income, before tax?

Select one

Thank you for completing this survey

Before you go, we should let you know that three of the badges we showed you earlier were completely made up by us.

The three fake badges were:

TrueReview

RESA
Residential Electrical Safety Authority

UKPAS
UK Plumbing Assessment Scheme

None of these are real organisations or schemes.

We included them to test how easy it is for convincing-looking badges to fool people, and many people are taken in. This is an important finding about how trust signals work in the UK today.

Your answers are completely anonymous and will be used to help improve public awareness of trust marks and verification standards.

You're all done

Your answers have been saved. Thank you for contributing to this study of how Britain navigates trust in a world of fake reviews, made-up badges, and unverified ratings.

Your completion code:

TRUSTUK

Copy this code, then click below to return to Prolific.

Return to Prolific →

The findings will be published later this year.