The price of praise: How incentive conditionality drives perceived deception and erodes brand trust

Online review incentive programs encourage consumers to share purchase experiences, but their effects may depend on how rewards are structured. This study examines how conditional versus unconditional review incentives influence brand trust through perceived deception and whether consumers’ disposition to trust moderates these relationships. Using a between-subjects experiment, participants were exposed to either a conditional incentive message, linking rewards to favourable reviews, or an unconditional message, offering rewards regardless of review valence. Mediation and moderated mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS. Results show that conditional incentive messages increase perceived deception and reduce brand trust compared with unconditional incentives. Perceived deception significantly mediates the relationship between incentive conditionality and brand trust. Furthermore, consumers with a stronger disposition to trust show a stronger increase in perceived deception and a corresponding indirect reduction in brand trust when exposed to conditional incentives. However, the moderating effect on the direct relationship between incentive conditionality and brand trust receives only marginal support. These findings demonstrate that consumers respond not only to the presence of review incentives but also to how they are structured and communicated. The study highlights perceived deception as an important psychological mechanism and emphasizes individual differences in consumers’ responses to incentivized review practices.