Social media user reviews, unfavorable product experience, cognitive dissonance, and brand hate: An empirical study on cosmetics products

User reviews about products and brands on social media have significantly contributed to the purchase decisions of other users. However, possible review biases and mismatches between user reviews and actual product experience can cause cognitive dissonance and even negative attitudes toward the brand. Under the lens of cognitive dissonance theory, this study investigates how mismatches between user reviews and actual product experience can cause customer dissonance, product dissatisfaction, and brand hate. Data obtained from a survey with 385 responses were analyzed using the technique of Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that differences between user reviews about a product and actual product experience can promote cognitive discrepancy, dissonance, product dissatisfaction, and unfavorable brand-related negative outcomes (i.e. brand hate, avoidance, and switching). Additionally, this study explores the moderating effects of risk importance on the relationships between user reviews, actual product experience, cognitive discrepancy, and cognitive dissonance. Our research advances the literature on consumer behavior under the impacts of user reviews by highlighting the role of disconfirmation, cognitive discrepancy, and cognitive dissonance.