Online reviews have long been an important part of consumer decision-making, but new regulatory scrutiny is turning them into a much bigger governance issue for franchise networks.
A recent Fieldfisher insight highlights the franchising implications of the Competition and Markets Authority’s latest investigations into online reviews, star ratings and incentivised feedback.
For consumer-facing franchise brands, particularly those in food, QSR, retail, beauty, leisure and home services, review management is no longer just a marketing concern. It is becoming a compliance and brand protection issue.
A New Consumer Protection Landscape
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 is coming into force in stages, and consumer protection is becoming a sharper area of focus. Since April 2025, practices such as fake reviews, undisclosed incentivised reviews and misleading star ratings have been classed as banned practices.
The CMA now has the power to investigate, decide and impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover without needing to go through the courts. This creates a very different risk environment for brands whose customer acquisition depends heavily on public ratings and online reputation.
Why This Matters for Franchising
Franchise networks create a particular challenge because customer reviews may be generated at local franchisee level, displayed on third-party platforms or influenced by local marketing activity. This raises important questions for franchisors:
- Who controls review generation?
- Are franchisees encouraged to request positive reviews?
- Are incentives or discounts linked to reviews?
- Are negative reviews filtered, delayed or deprioritised?
- Do local marketing practices align with brand-wide compliance expectations?
Even where franchisors are not directly involved in review activity, unclear rules or weak monitoring could expose the wider brand to reputational and regulatory risk.
The Food and QSR Angle
Fieldfisher highlights that recent CMA investigations include businesses in the food sector, raising particular relevance for franchise networks where delivery platforms, star ratings and customer reviews strongly influence purchasing decisions.
In QSR and hospitality, ratings can affect visibility, conversion and customer trust. That can create pressure at local level to maintain high scores. The risk is that well-intentioned performance targets or customer service KPIs may unintentionally encourage behaviour that distorts the review picture.
This is where franchisors need to be careful. Review performance may be useful, but it must not create incentives for misleading activity.
Practical Steps for Franchise Networks
Franchisors may need to review how online reputation is managed across their networks. Practical areas to consider include:
- Updating franchise manuals and agreements with clear review policies
- Training franchisees on what is and is not permitted
- Reviewing KPIs linked to online ratings
- Auditing local marketing and review-generation practices
- Monitoring review patterns for unusual activity
- Ensuring discounts or incentives are clearly disclosed where relevant
- Understanding how third-party platforms calculate and display ratings
These steps can help protect both consumers and the wider franchise brand.
Market Implications
This issue reflects a broader trend in franchising: as networks scale, governance and compliance become increasingly important. Franchise brands are built on consistency and trust. If customer reviews are misleading, even at local level, the impact can affect the entire network.
For franchisors, the message is clear: online reputation needs the same level of structure and oversight as other brand standards.
For franchisees, it reinforces the importance of transparent customer engagement and compliant local marketing.