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The paradox of (dis)trust in sponsorship disclosure: the characteristics and effects of sponsored online consumer reviews
journal contribution
posted on 2019-01-01, 00:00 authored by S J Kim, E Maslowska, Ali Tamaddoni JahromiAli Tamaddoni Jahromi© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Online consumer reviews (OCRs) have become one of the most influential persuasive messages with respect to purchase decisions. Knowing this, marketers have started incentivizing consumers to write reviews, hoping that they can increase the volume of positive reviews. However, little research exists on the content characteristics and effects of sponsored OCRs. This paper examines the different characteristics and effects of sponsored and organic OCRs, and the mechanisms by which consumers recognize and process these two types of reviews, using mixed methods in two studies. The findings of a text mining analysis (Study 1) suggest that sponsored reviews provide more elaborate and evaluative content; however, they are perceived as less helpful than organic reviews. The findings of a randomized experiment (Study 2) suggest that sponsorship disclosure increases suspicions about the reviewer's ulterior motives and decreases consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions when a review is positive. Sponsorship disclosure does not hurt attitudes or purchase intentions when a review is negative.
History
Journal
Decision support systemsVolume
116Pagination
114 - 124Publisher
ElsevierLocation
Amsterdam, The NetherlandsPublisher DOI
ISSN
0167-9236Language
engPublication classification
C Journal article; C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2018, Elsevier B.V.Usage metrics
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No categories selectedKeywords
Science & TechnologyTechnologyComputer Science, Artificial IntelligenceComputer Science, Information SystemsOperations Research & Management ScienceComputer ScienceeWOMOnline consumer reviewsSponsorship disclosurePersuasion knowledgeAttitudePurchase intentionWORD-OF-MOUTHRESPONSESACCESSIBILITYCREDIBILITYPERCEPTIONSSUSPICIONCOVERTPOST
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