As exciting as the emergence of social media is for consumers, it can be down-right terrifying for businesses. The positive side is that opportunities exist to reach consumers on a new level and in a new space. And according to the TMPDM/comScore Local Search Usage Study, social networkers are more likely to make purchases. The terrifying part, however, is that social media can’t be controlled, and it may leave businesses susceptible to consumers who unfairly lash out. But how often does that really happen, and how important are user-generated ratings and reviews for the consumer purchase process?

Because I’m a marketer, I’ll use a few statistics here to help address these concerns (that’s what I do). According to a study by Euro RSCG Worldwide (headquartered in NY), 20 percent of consumers reportedly lash out at or about companies or their brands, due to the anonymity of social media. But that leaves 80 percent of consumers who do not. In other words, 20 percent makes up those who are unhappy with your products or services; if you only have 10 unhappy customers out of the 1,000 you serve, then less than one percent of your customer base is likely to lash out.

In terms of lashing out, most consumers probably don’t rely heavily on such testimonies when it comes down to making purchase decisions. Now, I’m not negating the influence of consumer-generated ratings and reviews (57 percent of consumers say that ratings and reviews are important when narrowing a list of potential businesses from which to buy, according to TMPDM/comScore), but their presence is more important than what they say.

Here’s what I mean: A company with no attached user-generated ratings and reviews means what? No one goes to that business. A company with a few negative consumer reviews and a few positive reviews means what? Consumers use the business and care enough to talk about it. What that means is consumers like to see ratings and reviews, but only 27 percent say they use ratings and reviews in the purchase process, according to TMPDM/comScore.

The majority of consumers are concerned with, yep, you guessed it: Location, location, location! So the message for the day is simple: Embrace ratings and reviews; encourage them. Don’t be afraid if a few negative reviews appear. If that happens, monitor your brand perception (or consult help to address the social buzz), address the issues by revising your current strategy or product development, and move on.