Abstract

Purpose – There is a rising trend to post deceptive reviews online, and literature has stressed on the difficulty for humans to detect such deceptive online consumer reviews (OCR)s. Consumers are aware of such deceptive practices, but, they do not know for sure which OCR is deceptive and which one is not deceptive. This dilemma forms their perceptions of deception towards OCRs, and brings us to an important question: which cues in OCRs can potentially lead consumers to perceive deception in OCRs? What is the consequence of such perceived deception? In this study we take a consumer-centric approach in trying to understand the cues of perceived deception in online consumer reviews (PDOCR).

Methodology/approach – A between-subjects survey of 251 participants were conducted using the context of online restaurant reviews. The effects of Picture, Emotional Expression, and Incongruent review on PDOCR and purchase intention were measured. The effects of individual cultural values as moderators were also tested.

Findings and implications –Picture and Emotional expression (EE) do not have main effects on PDOCR but on purchase intention only. Picture increases and EE decreases purchase intention. In the presence of the moderating role of Incongruent valence, Picture had a significant effect at 90% CI on PDOCR, and EE had a significant effect at 95% CI on PDOCR. An important aspect of the study was the influence of individual cultural values, and we found several cultural variables significantly moderates incongruent valence, which in turn moderates the effects of Picture and EE on PDOCR. The findings have a number of meaningful theoretical and managerial implications and avenues for future research as it is one of the very few studies on PDOCR.