Incentivized fake reviews: When cognitive reappraisal paves the way for an immoral journey

Abstract

Recent studies explain how to detect fake reviews and their impacts on consumers and businesses. Despite the prevalence and significance of fake reviews, prior research has yet to fully explore the motivations and psychological mechanisms behind voluntary participation in writing fake reviews, especially in incentivized campaigns. This paper explains why consumers engage in the immoral act of writing fake reviews in return for free products. We investigate the interactive role of individuals' self-focused motivations and cognitive reappraisal ability in diminishing consumers' moral emotions of guilt, subsequently influencing their intention to write incentivized reviews. Built on three studies, the findings reveal that customers' self-focused motivations coupled with their ability to regulate emotions dissuade their feelings of guilt. Consequently, customers who experience downregulated emotions of guilt show a higher intention to write incentivized fake reviews. This study contributes to the existing literature by illustrating the driving factors toward writing incentivized fake reviews, especially by depicting the negative role of cognitive reappraisal. The study also has managerial implications indicating that such customer behavior can be avoided by fostering a sense of consideration toward others by making them aware about the impact of their actions.