Variations in audience evaluation of authenticity

Abstract

In the contemporary market, authenticity is frequently viewed as a primary driver of commercial success. Organizations and individuals strive to project authenticity to attract consumers. The prevailing assumption is straightforward: higher authenticity yields superior outcomes. However, this thesis challenges that linear view. It argues that the value of authenticity is not absolute but contingent. In specific, it depends on the specific context, the actor’s social role, and the underlying motives perceived by the audience.

To address this question, this thesis comprises three empirical studies utilizing large-scale archival data from the film industry (Douban) and the online art market (Artfinder). By employing advanced computational analysis on text, the study examined over one million reviews and biographies to decode how audiences evaluate authenticity.

The first study investigates internal authenticity in fictional worlds. It proposes and confirms an inverted U-shaped relationship between perceived authenticity and audience evaluation. While authenticity initially facilitates immersion, excessive authenticity eventually becomes an obstacle, either by creating tedium or breaching the audience’s psychological safety. Crucially, this relationship is moderated by genre: the curve flattens for reality-based films (e.g., history) where audiences expect authenticity, but steepens for fantasy-based films where the primary goal is escapism.

The second study examines authenticity through the lens of role theory among artist-entrepreneurs. It finds that audience support depends on the alignment between an entrepreneur’s rhetorical strategy and their perceived role. Outsider artists are rewarded for using authenticity-based rhetoric but penalized for adopting professionalism-based rhetoric, which audiences perceive as impression management. However, this study reveals an asymmetrical boundary condition: high status buffers outsiders from the penalties of using professional rhetoric, legitimizing their aspirational claims.

The third study explores the backfire effect of authenticity rhetoric in online markets characterized by high skepticism. It demonstrates that intensive claims of authenticity can paradoxically reduce audience interest. Drawing on attribution theory, the study identifies motivational framing as a critical contingency: the negative effect is mitigated when producers employ prosocial rhetoric that signals intrinsic, other-oriented motives, but is exacerbated when they use reward-focused rhetoric that highlights extrinsic incentives.

Collectively, this thesis contributes to authenticity theory by demonstrating that the value of authenticity is not static but a dynamic evaluative process. It shifts the theoretical focus from a logic of verification to one of experiential and rhetorical management, showing that the efficacy of authenticity is strictly governed by genre expectations, role congruence, and attributional cues.

Date of Award	25 Feb 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Stan Xiao LI (Supervisor)