Negative Online Word-of-Mouth: Consumers’ Retaliation in the Digital World

Abstract

This study describes how consumer dissatisfaction, aggravated by inefficient after-sales service and the perception of injustice, leads the consumer to desire retaliation. The central form of retaliation identified empirically is negative online word-of-mouth communication, leading to extensive sharing of punitive actions related to consumers’ losses and disappointments. The study entails qualitative research using netnography as the data collection method to extract consumer posts from Facebook containing reports on user experiences. Content analysis enabled observation of four categories of negative online word-of-mouth behavior that represent the following key factors: dissatisfaction, inefficient post-sales service, perceived injustice, and desire to retaliate. Understanding the retaliation process through post-purchase negative word-of-mouth about a particular product is critical to reduce and adjust the characteristics that influence the perception of injustice, thereby decreasing the likelihood of the consumer making damaging declarations against the company.