Political Ideology and Customer Reviews
Prof. Yunhui HUANG
Assistant Professor in Marketing
Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems
Hong Kong Baptist University
Date: 12 December 2025 (Friday)
Time: 14:00-16:00
Venue: E22-G013
Host: Prof. Fangyuan CHEN, Associate Professor in Marketing
Abstract
This research examines whether, when, and how political ideology influences consumers’ reliance on customer reviews as they make purchase decisions. We predict that political conservatism lowers reliance on reviews – the extent to which one considers and / or incorporates reviews in one’s decision-making. Building off findings that conservatives (vs. liberals) are prone to making internal attributions, we propose that conservatives are more likely to infer that consumption experiences and reviews are unique to review writer and therefore less generalizable, thereby reducing their reliance on reviews. Seven main studies and one supplementary study (N = 3955; four preregistered) measuring or manipulating political conservatism offer systematic support for the effect. Consistent with an asymmetric attribution account, the effect is attenuated for expert reviews, reviews centered on personal preferences, and experiential purchases –contexts which modulate consumers’ internal attribution tendency.
Speaker
Prof. Yunhui HUANG is an assistant professor of marketing at the Business School of Hong Kong Baptist University. Prof. Huang received her Ph.D. in Marketing from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2019. Before joining HKBU, Dr. Huang was an assistant professor of Marketing at Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University. Dr. Huang has published in top-tier marketing journals such as Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and International Journal of Research in Marketing. Her research interests include evolutionary psychology, price promotions, fashion, political ideology, and entertainment products.
All are welcome!
