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Incentivized reviews: Promising the moon for a few stars

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  • Petrescu, Maria
  • O’Leary, Kathleen
  • Goldring, Deborah
  • Ben Mrad, Selima

Abstract

This paper studies the motivations behind incentivized consumer reviews generated via influencer marketing campaigns. Exchange theory is applied as a theoretical framework to analyze, in a qualitative and a quantitative study, the relationship between incentivized reviews and the satisfaction ratings assigned by consumers to a product. The main contributions of the study find that incentivized campaigns can contribute to a sustained increase in the number of reviews and have the potential to lead to higher purchase potential. Moreover, this study also uncovers that incentivized electronic word-of-mouth, in the form of consumer reviews, leads to increased consumer interest and desire to find out more about the product through search engines. Our findings also show that the scope of exchange theory can be broader, from an exchange between two parties to more complex relationships, between brands, influencers, and consumers, through an emerging, specialized word-of-mouth technique.

Suggested Citation

  • Petrescu, Maria & O’Leary, Kathleen & Goldring, Deborah & Ben Mrad, Selima, 2018. "Incentivized reviews: Promising the moon for a few stars," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 288-295.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:41:y:2018:i:c:p:288-295
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.04.005
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    Cited by:

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    8. Cabeza-Ramírez, L. Javier & Sánchez-Cañizares, Sandra M. & Santos-Roldán, Luna M. & Fuentes-García, Fernando J., 2022. "Impact of the perceived risk in influencers' product recommendations on their followers' purchase attitudes and intention," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    9. Rae Yule Kim, 2020. "The influx of skeptics: an investigation of the diffusion cycle effect on online review," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(4), pages 821-835, December.
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    11. Ina Garnefeld & Tabea Krah & Eva Böhm & Dwayne D. Gremler, 2021. "Online reviews generated through product testing: can more favorable reviews be enticed with free products?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 703-722, July.
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    14. Wang, Zheng & Wang, Lun & Ji, Ying & Zuo, Lulu & Qu, Shaojian, 2022. "A novel data-driven weighted sentiment analysis based on information entropy for perceived satisfaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    15. Salminen, Joni & Kandpal, Chandrashekhar & Kamel, Ahmed Mohamed & Jung, Soon-gyo & Jansen, Bernard J., 2022. "Creating and detecting fake reviews of online products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    16. Costa, Ana & Guerreiro, João & Moro, Sérgio & Henriques, Roberto, 2019. "Unfolding the characteristics of incentivized online reviews," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 272-281.
    17. Perez, Dikla & Stockheim, Inbal & Baratz, Guy, 2022. "Complimentary competition: The impact of positive competitor reviews on review credibility and consumer purchase intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
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    19. Anjala S. Krishen & Maria Petrescu, 2018. "Analytics from our scholarly closets: the connections between data, information, and knowledge," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 1-5, March.
    20. Perez-Castro, A. & Martínez-Torres, M.R. & Toral, S.L., 2023. "Efficiency of automatic text generators for online review content generation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).

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