東西方消費者對網路評論造假知覺之跨文化比較:以台灣與美國消費者為例

Abstract

The current research attempts to explore whether or not there are any differences how Eastern and Western cultures perceive online review manipulation. More precisely, the objective of the research is to understand why these differences exist and how culture affects consumer’s perception of online review manipulation and the potential risks it may entail if a company was revealed to engage in this type of behavior. The methodology this research employs is purely qualitative and exploratory in nature. We created a set of questions that focused primarily on consumers’ perception and reactions towards online review manipulation for our comparative analysis between Eastern and Western cultures. We then interviewed twenty consumers from Taiwan representing the east and the United States representing the west. Based from these questions we were able to categorize their responses in the following categories to determine whether the two cultures exhibited any similarities or differences: 1) Online shopping experience 2) Perception of online reviews 3) Consumer knowledge 4) Awareness of online review manipulation 5) Is review manipulation common? 6) How do others perceive online review manipulation? 7) Perception and consequences of companies that engage in online review manipulation 8) Ethical Judgment and 9) Is online review manipulation legal or illegal. Based on our findings we were able to determine that consumers from both cultures shared similarities regarding their online shopping experiences, perception of online reviews, and their consumer knowledge. More importantly, we were able to identify significant differences between the two cultures perception of online review manipulation and its level of acceptance.