Determinants of multimodal fake review generation in China’s E-commerce platforms

Abstract

This paper develops a theoretical model of determinants influencing multimodal fake review generation using the theories of signaling, actor-network, motivation, and human–environment interaction hypothesis. Applying survey data from users of China’s three leading E-commerce platforms (Taobao, Jingdong, and Pinduoduo), we adopt structural equation modeling, machine learning technique, and Bayesian complex networks analysis to perform factor identification, path analysis, feature factor importance ranking, regime division, and network centrality analysis of full sample, male sample, and female sample to reach the following conclusions: (1) platforms’ multimodal recognition and governance capabilities exert significant negative moderating effects on merchants’ information behavior, while it shows no apparent moderating effect on users’ information behavior; users’ emotional venting, perceived value, reward mechanisms, and subjective norms positively influence multimodal fake review generation through perceptual behavior control; (2) feature factors of multimodal fake review generation can be divided into four regimes, i.e., regime 1 includes reward mechanisms and perceived social costs, indicating they are key feature factors of multimodal fake review generation; merchant perception impact is positioned in regime 2, signifying its pivotal role in multimodal fake review generation; regime 3 includes multimodal recognition and governance capabilities, supporting/disparaging merchants, and emotional venting; whereas user perception impact is positioned in regime 4, indicating its weaker influence on multimodal fake review generation; (3) both in full sample, male sample, and female sample, reward mechanisms play a crucial role in multimodal fake review generation; perceived value, hiring review control agency, multimodal recognition and governance capabilities exhibit a high degree of correlation; however, results of network centrality analysis also exhibit heterogeneity between male and female samples, i.e., male sample has different trends in closeness centrality values and betweenness centrality values than female sample. This indicates that determinants influencing multimodal fake review generation are complex and interconnected.