Online reviews have shown to be a significant source of information in the purchase decision process. The deceptive manipulation of reviews has become a substantial challenge for both the research and e-commerce industry. In this regard, scholars made the first attempts to analyze the motives and causes of these so-called fake reviews. However, there is still a lack of a comprehensive and differentiated overview on this topic. The present article seeks to fill this gap by reviewing the current state of research on user-related and supplier-related causes as well as the effects of fake reviews from the perspective of the recipient, supplier, and platform. Therefore, we contribute by deriving key research gaps.

Online reviews have shown to be a significant source of information in the purchase decision process. The deceptive manipulation of reviews has become a substantial challenge for both the research and e-commerce industry. In this regard, scholars made the first attempts to analyze the motives and causes of these so-called fake reviews. However, there is still a lack of a comprehensive and differentiated overview on this topic. The present article seeks to fill this gap by reviewing the current state of research on user-related and supplier-related causes as well as the effects of fake reviews from the perspective of the recipient, supplier, and platform. Therefore, we contribute by deriving key research gaps.