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Beauty is truth: The effects of inflated product claims and website interactivity on evaluations of retailers' websites

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  • Franco Valdez, Ana Dolores
  • Valdez Cervantes, Alfonso
  • Motyka, Scott

Abstract

Retailers are in an arms race to attract customers to their websites and drive sales. This research examines how two techniques, inflated product claims and website interactivity, affect consumer evaluations of retailer websites. According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the authors argue that the use of strong, even inflated product claims leads to stronger website evaluations. The positive effects of inflated claims are bounded by website interactivity, which functions as a heuristic of the trustworthiness of a retailer's claims and website. Two studies demonstrate consistently that when website interactivity is high, the effects of inflated product claims are enhanced, whereas they are attenuated when website interactivity is low.

Suggested Citation

  • Franco Valdez, Ana Dolores & Valdez Cervantes, Alfonso & Motyka, Scott, 2018. "Beauty is truth: The effects of inflated product claims and website interactivity on evaluations of retailers' websites," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 67-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:90:y:2018:i:c:p:67-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.04.027
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Henner Mohr & Zhiping Walter, 2019. "Formation of Consumers’ Perceived Information Security: Examining the Transfer of Trust in Online Retailers," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 1231-1250, December.

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