Effect of Deceptive Advertisements on Consumer Buying Behaviour in Personal Care Products

Advertisements substantially affect human lives because the use of deception in advertisements is extensive. Deceptive advertising has been commonly used by advertisers and companies as well as its impact on consumers buying behaviors. This research aims to measure the relationship between deceptive advertisements and consumer buying behavior with mediating effects of product satisfaction and retailer satisfaction in personal care products. The first mediation is, that perceived deception affected retailer satisfaction through product satisfaction, whereas the second mediation is that perceived deception affects consumer loyalty and word of mouth through retailer satisfaction. The primary data was collected from the 384 respondents through convenience sampling by using survey questionnaires. The expectancy disconfirmation theory was adopted to evaluate the factors of consumer buying behavior. PLS-SEM was applied to the data for hypothesis testing. The results of this research indicate that deceptive advertisements have a direct negative impact on product satisfaction and retailer satisfaction. Moreover, both the mediating variables (product satisfaction and retailer satisfaction) have significant effects on consumer loyalty and word of mouth. However, all hypotheses were supported and substantiated with the help of the earlier studies conducted in this context and remain consistent with them. This study enriches the literature related to the effects of deceptive advertising on buying behavior and provides the understanding that will help in reducing perceived deception. This refers to the inclusion of honesty in sales practices and the exclusion of deceptive advertising practices in both online and offline retailing. Moreover, this study is also helpful for consumers in buying decision-making.