In Distrust of Merits: The Negative Effects of Astroturfs on People’s Prosocial Behaviors

Astroturf organizations are fake grassroots organizations that hide their true identity by using deceptive and fraudulent tactics as propaganda, but try to convince the public that they are authentic. In this study, we focus on the potential influences of astroturf organizations within the context of prosocial behaviors. Building on the notion that deceptive advertisements engender distrust and undermine the trustworthiness of subsequent advertising, we suggest that people who read messages from astroturf organizations will become more distrustful toward nonprofit organizations and will display lower willingness to engage in prosocial behaviors than people who read messages from grassroots organizations. Results from studies 1 and 2 indicate that messages from astroturf organizations can engender people's distrust toward nonprofit organizations, thereby lowering their willingness to engage in prosocial behaviors. In addition, the negative effect of astroturf organizations is moderated by skepticism toward advertising. Given that the insidious use of astroturf organizations is growing in popularity, we provide meaningful insights into the influence of fake grassroots organizations, with the possibility to forewarn the public about their undesirable effects on the community. Link to the article

KANG, J., KIM, H., CHU, H., CHO, C.H. and KIM, H. (2016). In Distrust of Merits: The Negative Effects of Astroturfs on People’s Prosocial Behaviors. International Journal of Advertising, 35(1), pp. 135-148.

Keywords : #Global-warming, #Astroturf-organizations, #Consumer-distrust, #Prosocial-behavior, #Advertising-skepticism