A 5-star rated community is over 100% more likely to get a move than a community with no ratings or reviews, a recent study finds.
SeniorAdvisor.com, a ratings and reviews site for the senior living industry, partnered with A Place for Mom (APFM), a senior living referral service, to conduct the ongoing study, and published to-date results Wednesday.
APFM began including ratings and reviews from SeniorAdvisor.com into the referral emails sent from APFM Senior Living Advisors to their customers Oct. 16 2013. Prior to the study, these referral emails contained contact and location information for properties matching the care needs and budget requirements discussed with the potential resident and their families. The study was launched in two test regions before expanding to half of the country, and then launching nationwide in April.
The referral emails in the original test regions included the overall star rating and a recent review for the property from SeniorAdvisor.com; the letters in the non-test regions did not.
Consumers exposed to community reviews were 74% more likely to schedule a tour of four- and five-star locations than those who were not provided community feedback at all, results show.
Including the reviews and ratings in the APFM referral emails has resulted in a 7-10% increase in overall move-in rates for APFM partners, the study says.
“Based on the overwhelming success of the study, APFM and SeniorAdvisor.com expanded the initiative into all remaining markets across the United States in April 2014, so all families will see ratings and reviews alongside their referred providers,” the study says.
The companies expect the correlation between including positive reviews in senior living community information and move-ins to increase.
Written by Cassandra Dowell
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