Why consumers exaggerate in online reviews? Moral disengagement and dark personality traits

Diffusion of digital media has led to extensive reliance on online reviews for purchase decisions. However, consumers may routinely exaggerate about their own consumption experiences. Using moral disengagement theory and the dark personality trait , the present study seeks to enhance the understandi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of retailing and consumer services Vol. 60; p. 102496
Main Authors Kapoor, Payal S., M S, Balaji, Maity, Moutusy, Jain, Nikunj Kumar
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2021
Subjects
Dark triad
Exaggeration
Lying
Moral disengagement
Online reviews
Moral disengagement
Lying
Exaggeration
Dark triad
Online reviews
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Summary:Diffusion of digital media has led to extensive reliance on online reviews for purchase decisions. However, consumers may routinely exaggerate about their own consumption experiences. Using moral disengagement theory and the dark personality trait , the present study seeks to enhance the understanding of consumers' intentions to exaggerate about their consumption experience in online reviews. In order to demonstrate convergence of finding and replicability of the proposed relationships, four studies were conducted to examine consumers’ intention to exaggerate about their positive and negative experiences in online reviews for search and experience products respectively. Findings showed significant positive relationships between dark personality traits and intention to exaggerate in online reviews. Furthermore, moral disengagement significantly mediated intention to exaggerate for narcissists and psychopaths. The results reinforce the usefulness of the study for managers as these studies augment the understanding of consumer lying behavior in the context of online reviews and offer insights into mechanisms that might prevent the amplification of such reviews. •Dark triad influence consumer intentions to exaggerate in online reviews.•Moral disengagement explains why consumers exaggerate in online reviews.•Significant differences in exaggerating online reviews for search and experience products.•Significant differences in exaggerating online reviews for positive and negative experiences.
ISSN:0969-6989
1873-1384
DOI:10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102496