Deceptive reviews which include posts by businesses (or individuals) to promote their own products/services or denounce their competitors are increasingly being used to mislead those making purchase decisions. Mass media globally and online review websites have acknowledged the existence of deceptive reviews that can undermine trust in online review websites. However, the challenges faced by both online review websites and businesses whose products and services are being reviewed extend beyond the existence of actual deceptive reviews. Another significant problem is related the issue of perceived deception (what consumers perceive is a deceptive review regardless of whether the review is deceptive or not), which is the focus of this thesis.
A systematic review of literature regarding online reviews suggests that consumers’ perceived credibility and trustworthiness can be influenced by various factors related to reviews, reviewers, online review websites, and consumers’ characteristics, either independently or interactively. In turn, perceived credibility and trustworthiness play a role in influencing consumers’ responses. However, there is a lack of academic knowledge regarding the antecedents and consequences of perceived deception in online reviews that this thesis seeks to address.
Building on two well-known theories (social information processing theory (SIPT) and the persuasion knowledge model (PKM)) and supplementing them with existing online review literature, a conceptual framework is developed and tested. The framework assesses how reviewers’ profile cues (reviewer’s identity disclosure and reviewer’s expertise), influence perceived deception. In addition, consumers’ responses to online reviews that they perceive to be deceptive, such as reduced booking intention, negative emotion, warning other consumers by sharing negative word of mouth (NWOM), or experiencing reduced trust towards a hotel are explored. The role of online review scepticism on the relationship between reviewers’ profile cues and perceived deception is also investigated.
An online experiment (pre-test 1: n = 93; pre-test 2: n = 82; main study: n = 321) using a 2 (reviewer’s identity disclosure: high, low) x 2 (reviewer’s expertise: high, low) between-subject design was used to explore how a reviewer’s profile cues influence perceived deception and ultimately consumer responses. The results reveal the significant effects that reviewer’s identity disclosure and expertise have on perceived deception, particularly when online review scepticism is high. These cues also influence booking intention, NWOM, and negative emotion through perceived deception.
Drawing on SIPT and PKM, the thesis extends online review literature by developing and testing a conceptual framework which shows how reviewers’ profile cues (i.e., low identity disclosure and low expertise) impact perceived deception and, in turn, subsequent consumer responses. The conceptual framework also shows the moderation effect of online review scepticism on the relationship between reviewer’s profile cues and perceived deception. Practically, this thesis validates a model that identifies the causes and negative effects of perceived deception. The model is designed to assist online review websites and hotels understand the importance of ensuring that genuine reviews (non-deceptive reviews) are not mistakenly perceived to be deceptive. Online review websites and hotels might achieve this by foregrounding reviewer's profile information (i.e., reviewer's identity disclosure and reviewer's expertise level).
