Should I believe this review? The impact of nicknames on perceived authenticity of online reviews in peer-to-peer accommodation

ABSTRACT

To bridge the knowledge gap relating to consumers’ efforts to distinguish fake from authentic online reviews, this study explores the impact of different forms of address for P2P accommodation hosts (formal address vs. nickname) on consumers’ perceptions of review authenticity. Through three experiments, the results revealed that using a host’s nickname acted as a noteworthy social cue, notably enhancing consumers’ perceptions of authenticity, confirming the mediating role of inferred relationship closeness. This study offers a fresh perspective on online review authenticity literature and reveals a new research direction for tourism and hospitality, i.e. the novel concept of “inferred relationship closeness.”

KEYWORDS:

• P2P accommodation
• nickname
• inferred relationship closeness
• emotional intensity
• online review
• fake review
• perceived authenticity
• analogical learning
• terms of address
• formal address

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number: 722QN294 and 724RC490); and The Education Department of Hainan Province (Grant number: Qhys2023-199).