I can't go quite as far as "just like anything else," but I agree that liking or disliking a certain eliquid is certainly more subjective at its core than reactions to many or even most other consumer items. Some kinds of products lend themselves to somewhat greater group consensus about what constitutes quality (I'm thinking things like building supplies or refrigerators, for instance), but yes, the old phrase "There's no accounting for taste" applies very frequently.
As someone who has written more than 100 juice reviews, I sometimes ask myself, "What's the point?" I get it that people love beauty contests and competitions like all those cooking shows on television, all of which share that same factor of subjective opinion from judges who hold certain assumptions or biases. But then I remember that 1. reviews are often entertaining in their own right (mine are meant to be, at least, LOL), 2. they're part of the social camaraderie of the vaping community here on ECF, and 3. they definitely serve as a kind of "heads up" as to what's available in the marketplace.
Would people be vaping as much Boba's, Bounty Hunter, BWB RY4, or any other uber-popular juice without the buzz that was generated by glowing reviews on ECF? I don't know for sure, but I imagine that the buzz contributes in major ways to a juice's success. Then, of course, there's also the blowback contrarian factor---people who don't like Boba's or BH largely because so many other people love them. Lots of melodrama there. The whole paradox about belonging in groups versus individually standing apart.
Among the great things about vaping is that no one has to like what I like. I get to continue happily vaping Aroma Turkish Blend without the slightest concern that some of you don't like it. (And I don't feel any need to convert you evangelically, either.) Conversely, I don't have to vape any juice that others love but I don't, and I could name a whole bunch of those. LOL.
