Programok

Birds of a Feather Buy Together? The Effect of Buyers’ Facial Similarity to Message Source on Online Purchase Decisions

Pécsi Tudományegyetem Bölcsészet- és Társadalomtudományi Kar (7624 Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6.)

17:00-17:30 | 1 szabad hely

Anyone who has ever purchased an item online knows that product reviews play an important role in choosing which product to put into one’s cart. Previous studies have shown that a target’s self-perceived similarity with the source of a persuasive appeal is likely to increase the target’s persuadability in online settings. We developed an online shopping task where participants read positive and negative customer reviews of physically similar and dissimilar sources. In general, participants rated similar (vs. dissimilar) sources as significantly more reliable, and they were more likely to accept a review from a similar source, especially when the review was positive. We discuss these findings in the light of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and point out the potentially harmful consequences of misusing photo morphing technologies (e.g., deep fake solutions) in online commerce.