Examining users’ discerned authenticity of online reviews

• Main Authors: Chew, Loo Hong, Kosnatha, Fendy, Sim, Kim Heng
• Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Library and information science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/68878
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Online review websites, such as TripAdvisor, have gained widespread popularity in the recent years due to its ease and simplicity for consumers to share their post-purchase experience with other consumers. However, some have abused this platform by writing fake reviews, usually with the intention to extol their products or to undermine their competitors. Therefore, it is imperative for consumers to be aware and able to correctly distinguish between an authentic and fake review. This paper aims to provide a validated framework, consisting of perceived comprehensibility, specificity, exaggeration and negligence, on how consumers discern the authenticity of online reviews. This will be achieved by reviewing the relevant literature, and to use both qualitative and quantitative techniques for further analysis of the secondary data obtained in this project. The results derived will be discussed and evaluated to determine the level how consumers’ epistemic beliefs impact the discerned authenticity of online reviews. Finally, this paper concludes with a summary to support the entire research that was conducted, and proposes some research directions for future work.