Top Rated beats Best Seller for most shoppers
'Top Rated' and 'Best Seller' labels trigger different psychology. In most markets, 'Top Rated' signals consensus quality - not just popularity - and drives higher willingness to pay.
Quick Summary
"Top Rated" signals that people evaluated a product and judged it excellent. "Best Seller" signals that a lot of people bought it. The quality inference is stronger with "Top Rated", and in collectivist markets it drives meaningfully higher willingness to pay. In UK and US markets, both perform similarly, but switching to "Top Rated" carries low risk and potential upside.
Use "Top Rated" on high-review-count products and reserve "Best Seller" for products with strong sales velocity but fewer reviews. A/B test both labels on your most important collection pages to find what works for your specific audience.
Key Finding
28%
Higher willingness to pay driven by "Top Rated" versus "Best Seller" labels in collectivist markets.
Barnes & Shavitt, 2024
Both labels are social proof, but they speak to different instincts. "Best Seller" tells shoppers what other people bought. "Top Rated" tells them what other people thought was good. That distinction matters more than most merchants realise.
The difference in what each label communicates
"Best Seller" signals behavioural consensus - lots of people purchased this. "Top Rated" signals attitudinal consensus - lots of people evaluated this and judged it excellent. Quality inference is stronger with the latter. Shoppers read it as a verdict, not just a popularity count.
Where the gap is largest
The study found "Top Rated" drove 28% higher willingness to pay compared to "Best Seller" in collectivist markets (parts of Asia, southern Europe). In individualist markets like the US and UK, both labels performed equally - but neither outperformed. That means switching from "Best Seller" to "Top Rated" in UK or US stores is low risk and potentially beneficial for certain product categories.
Shopify implementation
- Replace "Best Seller" collection labels with "Top Rated" on high-review-count products
- Reserve "Best Seller" for products with strong sales velocity but fewer reviews
- A/B test both labels using Shopify's native theme editor or a tool like Intelligems
Research: Barnes, A.J. & Shavitt, S. (2024). "Top Rated or Best Seller? Cultural Differences in Responses to Attitudinal versus Behavioral Consensus Cues." Journal of Consumer Research, 51(2), 276-297.
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