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J Turner Research found that 45.1 percent of prospects now fall into a group called “The Skeptics,” renters who operate with high fear and low hope. In this environment, even high-rated properties are vulnerable. Just two reviews mentioning issues like pests, security, or hidden fees can trigger an immediate “Veto Effect,” eliminating a property from consideration regardless of how many five-star reviews it has. This dynamic has created what J Turner Research calls the “Reputation Tax,” a measurable drop in a prospect’s likelihood to lease based solely on recurring negative themes found in review content.
Technology is accelerating this shift. More than half of renters have already used or considered using AI tools to summarize reviews, and those tools do not care about star averages. They surface keywords tied to risk, pushing high-severity issues to the forefront of the decision process. This is why J Turner Research is evolving the ORA score to be content-aware and psychologically informed. In a market defined by financial anxiety and skepticism, reputation is no longer about managing stars. It is about managing the story your reviews are telling and removing the risks that cause renters to walk away before they ever schedule a tour.