The objectivity illusion and perceptions of online reviews

Janina Steinmetz () and Emily Pronin ()
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Janina Steinmetz: City University of London, Bayes Business School
Emily Pronin: Princeton University

Marketing Letters, 2026, vol. 37, issue 1, No 2, 14 pages

Abstract: Abstract Research on online reviews has identified reviewer- and review-related factors that impact persuasiveness. We add to this literature by investigating reviewers’ as well as readers’ perspectives on a given review. We find that reviewers’ “objectivity illusion”—the belief that their opinions are objective, i.e., reviewer objectivism—adversely impacts readers’ reactions to their online reviews. In two studies and one supplemental study, we find for positive as well as negative reviews that reviewers habitually high in objectivism see their reviews as more persuasive and are more willing to share them, although readers evaluate them as less persuasive because they find objectivist reviewers less likable. These studies demonstrate that reviewers who write less persuasive reviews are most likely to share them, which holds implications for businesses seeking to improve review persuasiveness.

Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/s11002-025-09805-2

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