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A recent study suggests that your personality influences your ability to spot fake reviews when shopping online.
For papers published in Journal of Consumer Marketingresearchers examined the ability of more than 400 people to sniff out fake hotel reviews, then gave them a personality test.
Each participant was given a set of 8 hotel reviews to rate out of 1,600.
- Two positive reviews that were fake
- Two positive reviews that were genuine
- 2 negative reviews that were fake
- Two negative reviews that were true
Participants with the Extrovert personality type were the worst at spotting fake positive reviews. It meant that we tended to be curious and were best suited to spot fake positive reviews.
Everyone had a hard time spotting fake negative reviews, regardless of personality type.
“Overall, we found that consumers generally trust negative reviews more than positive reviews,” wrote Shabnam Azimi, lead author of the study. . conversation“When assessing whether online reviews are genuine, consumers assume that some positive reviews may be fake, while considering the number of negative reviews that may be fake. are often underestimated.”
Many do not consider the possible motives of the people behind negative reviews, such as angry customers or rival business owners.
Participants were also more likely to trust reviews with certain characteristics, such as:
- Positive reviews for short sentences
- Negative reviews with long sentences
- Negative reviews that are short and less emotional
While this study focuses on hotel reviews in a specific city (Chicago), consumers should be aware of fake reviews everywhere. For tips on how to spot them, see 5 Sneaky Ways to Spot Fake Reviews on Amazon.