The paradox of (dis)trust in sponsorship disclosure: The characteristics and effects of sponsored online consumer reviews

Su Jung Kim, Ewa Maslowska, Ali Tamaddoni

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)114-124
Number of pages11
JournalDecision Support Systems
Volume116
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Attitude
  • eWOM
  • Online consumer reviews
  • Persuasion knowledge
  • Purchase intention
  • Sponsorship disclosure

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Management Information Systems
  • Information Systems
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Information Systems and Management

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