Authentic Deception: How Image Retouching Shapes Trust, Decision-Making, and Consumer Vulnerability

Date of Award

Spring 5-2026

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Advisor(s)

Genevieve O'Connor

Abstract

Marketing of financial services is rapidly evolving. The proliferation of advanced technologies such as image retouching, AI, and the growing presence of social media challenge consumers to choose financial services that are authentic but also appealing. While prior research demonstrates that image retouching influences willingness to pay in hedonic domains such as beauty, it remains unclear whether these effects extend to financial services marketing. The purpose of this paper is to better understand how source credibility, self-congruence, and social media engagement drive consumers' willingness to pay for financial advice. Multiple regression analysis was used to test hypotheses in a survey of 510 respondents that considered the effects of credibility, self-congruence, and social media engagement on willingness to pay for a fictional retouched CFP advertisement and an unretouched CFP advertisement. The results indicate that self-congruence and social media engagement are significant drivers of willingness to pay in both retouched and untouched CFP advertisements, whereas the effect of credibility on willingness to pay and the moderating role of self-congruence on credibility were only significant in the unretouched condition. This research is the first to examine how perceived source credibility, social media engagement, and self-congruence drive consumers' willingness to pay for financial advice from a certified financial planner and how these effects vary across digitally retouched versus unretouched advertisements. This research also considers the moderating effect of self-congruence on credibility on willingness to pay.

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