1) Credibility. If EVERY review was positive, would you believe a product was perfect? Doubtful. But a negative review — especially if provided by the firm being reviewed — can give the firm credibility in the market place. This is even more true if competitors aren’t willing to be as brutally honest.

2) Context. When a negative review complains about a product feature a prospective customer doesn’t care about — e.g., reviewer complains that “screen size on the laptop was too small for me” — it gives a product researcher some context for making a decision (see Barry Schwartz’s “The Paradox of Choice” for why context is so important).

3) Community. Just because a negative product review exists, it doesn’t mean existing customers and prospects will flee. Instead, knowing someone else out there has the same issue with a product that I might have can help provide a sense of community among a firm’s customers.

4) Correction. Um… wouldn’t YOU like to know what your customers and prospects REALLY think about your product so you can take some corrective actions?