Trust in online reviews: effects of valence and exposure to information on deceiver’s distrust and financial incentives

Abstract

Online deception is prevalent and may have consequences for trust in online reviews. The present research considers the manipulated effects of information exposure and valence on participants’ accuracy in lie detection and trust in online reviews. Undergraduate university students (N = 166) completed an online study where they were exposed to information about deceiver’s distrust, financial incentives, or general information about online reviews (control). Participants were also exposed to the valence manipulation where they were presented with either positive or negative reviews and were asked to identify whether each review was deceptive or truthful. Their trust in online reviews was also assessed through measures of trust and authenticity. Evidence was found for the effect of valence on lie detection accuracy because those in the positively-valenced conditions were better able to detect deceptive reviews than those in the negatively-valenced conditions. Results also demonstrated a high self-reported frequency of leaving deceptive online reviews. This finding establishes the pervasiveness of deception in online reviews. There was no significant main effect of information exposure, nor was there an interaction effect. Results suggest that online deception is commonplace and that positive deceptive reviews may be easier to detect than negative ones. Implications for consumers and businesses are discussed.