Fanning the flames: Transmitting negative word of mouth of rival brands

Abstract

Brands’ negative word of mouth (NWOM) generated by their unsatisfied consumers is increasingly transmitted by fans of competing brands. Although extant research has examined the generation of NWOM because of consumers’ negative consumption experience, little is known about the role of fans of rival brands in spreading NWOM of a focal brand and how the focal brand can mitigate this rival NWOM transmission. This research aims to investigate why fans who highly identify with rival brands are willing to transmit the focal brands’ NWOM and how the focal brand can mitigate the NWOM transmission. Through four studies comprising two surveys and two experiments, this article shows that consumers’ identification with rival brands leads to the NWOM transmission of focal brands, and that schadenfreude mediates the effect. Furthermore, NWOM transmission can be attenuated when the focal brand has responded to the original NWOM in an empathic way. This study enriches the word-of-mouth literature and offers important managerial implications.