Consumer-driven racial stigmatization: the moderating role of race in online consumer-to-consumer reviews

Marketing studies highlight the importance of recognizing different cultures and suggest that race plays an integral role in the functioning and ideological underpinnings of marketplace actions. Nevertheless, this role remains understudied in research on online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) interactions. Guided by extant literature and drawing on critical race theory, this study conducts two experimental studies that show how the race of online consumer reviewers influences other consumers’ interpretation of the quality of the reviews. This study contributes to the marketing literature by extending the existing knowledge of racial stigmatization and bias found in marketing communications to C2C exchanges. An understanding of the role, scope, and impact of consumer-driven stigmatization is of growing importance due to the growing empowerment of consumers in the business ecosystem. Regulatory frameworks are designed to protect consumers from unfair market practices on the part of firms and businesses. However, C2C interaction is a largely unregulated territory where our study demonstrates that entrenched racial stigmatization may still exist. The study findings reveal important implications and directions for future research.