Negative eWOM Research Articles

Anxiety and Ephemeral Social Media Use in Negative eWOM Creation

Consumers regularly share negative eWOM regarding brand experiences, yet the effects of emotions in this process are unknown. Using the framework of Stimulus–Organism–Response theory we operationalized our study in the context of ephemeral (self-deleting) social media. Across two studies, consumers experienced anxiety during the creation of eWOM, particularly after considering a negative brand experience. Anxiety was manifest in consumers' decisions to reduce the time availability of online messages and appeased by the use of ephemeral social media. This behavior, in theory, reduces the threat to consumers' impression management goals caused by sharing negative eWOM within their social networks. Further evidence is found as consumers limit (lengthen) message availability a) when including less (more) positive words in their messages, or b) when sharing about non-economic (economic) experiences. We discuss the implications of consumer emotion and anxiety on the availability of eWOM in social media.

Engajamento dos Consumidores com o Boca a Boca Eletrônico Negativo em Lojas de Aplicativos Móveis

Resumo O objetivo do estudo é compreender as motivações do comportamento de engajamento do consumidor com o boca a boca eletrônico (electronic word-of–mouth [eWOM]) negativo em plataformas de consumo de aplicativos móveis, utilizando-se como lente de análise a Teoria da Ação Racional (Theory of Reasoned Action [TRA]). Foram realizadas dez entrevistas em profundidade com usuários emissores de comentários negativos, as quais permitiram a construção de um corpus que foi descrito, classificado e interpretado por meio de análise temática de conteúdo. Como generalização analítica, infere-se que os motivadores mais influentes para o engajamento com o eWOM negativo são a Busca por Providências, o Altruísmo, as Emoções Negativas e a Reciprocidade. Com relação aos construtos da TRA, as Atitudes favorecem esse engajamento, mas as Normas subjetivas pouco contribuem para a participação ativa no boca a boca eletrônico negativo. Esta pesquisa pode ajudar os programadores de aplicativos móveis e os analistas de mídias sociais quanto à formulação de estratégias de interação que estimulem o comportamento de engajamento dos consumidores.

E-complaint tracking and online problem-solving strategies in hospitality management

PurposeThis research aims to scrutinize the negative reviews regarding the 5-star chain hotels and the e-responses on TripAdvisor, to categorize the complaints declared in the review texts, to provide better understanding of the online problem-solving methods of hotels and their corporate approach to e-complaints and to reveal the post-vacation electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) behaviours of the complaining tourists.Design/methodology/approachWithin the scope of this research, 404 negative reviews and 364 e-responses are subject to an extensive content analysis. A total of 1,655 tourist e-complaints which were mentioned in the negative online reviews are categorized according to their subject matters and grouped under main themes. The e-responses of hotels and statements of e-complaining tourists regarding post-vacation experience are analysed in detail based on a qualitative research approach.FindingsAs a result of the research, 82 sub-themes within 11 complaint categories are determined, and it is found out that the e-complaints mainly focus on “food and beverage services”, “room comfort” and “hotel staff”. The hotel management mainly implemented problem-solving strategies such as “request for future patronage, a recovery plan as a result of the detailed analysis of the problem and warning to the relevant department performing poor service” as well as giving unsatisfactory “cliché responses”. Dissatisfied tourists performed negative e-WOM behaviours by using abusing expressions in review text, recommending different hotel alternatives, failing to recommend the hotel and expressing that they would not return.Originality/valueCombing through negative e-reviews which include wide range of complaints of disappointed tourists and the statements which reveal post-vacation tendencies and feelings, the e-responses of hotels that are providing insight regarding the corporate approach to negative feedbacks and formation of post-vacation relations between the hotel and customers, the paper adopts a qualitative and utilitarian approach. The originality of the paper stems from its elaborative context analysis and balanced comparison of three 5-star luxury chain resort hotels located on the shores of the Mediterranean with almost similar quality standards and guest relations/public relations (GR/PR) departments that represent corporate identity. To this respect, the research is thought to be original in quality and can fill out the gap in the tourism literature. Presenting conceptual framework and practical information, the paper is predicted to guide the future studies, tourism marketers, travel consultants, PR/GR staff and managers employed in hospitality businesses.

Does eWOM matter to brand extension?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to find out how electronic word of mouth (eWOM) may affect evaluations of products with different brand images. In particular, the study explores differential eWOM impacts across several brand types and extension categories.Design/methodology/approachAn experiment with 2 (brand image: prestige/function) × 2 (category similarity: low/high) × 2 (eWOM message type: positive/negative) between-subjects design was used to examine the impacts of eWOM on different types of brand extensions. A total of 268 subjects from a public university in the Southwest participated in the study. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used in analyzing the data.FindingsThe findings highlight the differential impact of eWOM on brand extension evaluations with different brand images. First, eWOM is more effective in influencing evaluations of functional brand extensions than prestige brand extensions. Second, whereas negative eWOM does equally bad on both high- and low-similarity brand extensions, positive eWOM is more effective in improving evaluations of high-similarity extensions than low-similarity extensions.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine the impact of eWOM on products with different brand images. This is a critical issue for brand managers who allocate limited marketing resources to monitoring and managing vast amounts of eWOM activities. The findings provide important guidance for managing social media marketing communications.

What does the brand say? Effects of brand feedback to negative eWOM on brand trust and purchase intentions

ABSTRACTThis study examined the effects of brand feedback to negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on consumers’ brand trust and purchase intentions, and examined the moderating effect of problem attribution described in the negative eWOM message. Results from a 2 (Brand Feedback: Present/Absent) × 2 (Causal Attribution: Brand/Reviewer) × 2 (Products: Laptop/TV) between-subjects online experiment suggest that brand feedback had a simultaneous positive and negative effect on purchase intentions, whereby brand trust mediated the positive effect. Attribution of the product's problem did not significantly change this effect. Findings help to clarify the literature by describing mechanisms through which brand feedback occurs to influence brand outcomes.

Do Electronic Word-of-Mouth and Elaboration Likelihood Model Influence Hotel Booking?

ABSTRACTThe emergences of Web 2.0 and cloud computing have contributed greatly to the prevalence of electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWoM). Unlike most of the existing studies which have used linear models, nonlinear relationships were discovered in hotel booking intention. So far, the effects of elaboration-likelihood model (ELM) and demographics have been largely overlooked, though studies have shown that ELM may explain consumers’ perception, behavior, and IS acceptance. Data were gathered from 497 patrons of 10 hotels in Golden Triangle, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Using artificial neural network (ANN), we found that user involvement, positive eWoM, user expertise, perceived credibility, education, negative eWoM, and income are among the important predictors explaining 81% of variance in booking intention. The theoretical implications may further advance eWoM and ELM literatures, while the managerial implications may provide novel understandings to hotel operators, advertisers, and relevant hospitality policy makers in formulating effective decision making.

The Moderating Roles of Prior Attitude and Message Acceptance in Electronic Word of Mouth

The purpose of this study is to examine how the effect of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on consumer decision can be moderated by prior attitude and message acceptance. The authors investigate potential different effects of the two factors on persuasive impact of eWOM for different message valences: positive and negative eWOM. They test some hypothesis concerning the moderating effects in a context of consumer’s brand choice decision which is measured through an experimental study. One of the key findings is that prior attitude significantly altered choice probabilities only when subjects received positive messages. Conversely, the moderating effect of message acceptance was significant for negative messages, but not for positive messages. The results provide some important insights that are useful for anticipating the sales impact of eWOM.

Generation Y’s positive and negative eWOM: use of social media and mobile technology

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the factors that influence Generation Y’s positive or negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behavior via social media and mobile technology in the foodservice sector. Three types of dining experiences were examined: positive and negative customer experiences and negative customer service followed by a satisfactory recovery package.Design/methodology/approachA survey was adopted to test the factors posited to influence Generation Y consumers in these service contexts. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk , and multi-group structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the data.FindingsActive use of social media and peer influence had a sweeping influence on Generation Y’s intentions to engage in eWOM about their service experiences. Technological sophistication with mobile technology influenced Generation Y to spread positive or negative service experiences, rather than satisfactory recovery experiences. Family influence had a mixed influence on Generation Y subgroups (21-24 years old vs 25-35 years old) to engage in eWOM about their satisfactory or poor service experiences. In satisfactory recovery experiences, family influence showed no significant influence on Generation Y’s eWOM behaviors.Research limitations/implicationsThis study enriches online reviews and eWOM marketing theories, adds to service failure and recovery literature and enhances understanding of consumer behavior expressed by Generation Y through the empirical investigation of Generation Y consumers’ behavioral motivations to engage in eWOM through social media and mobile technology.Practical implicationsEngaging Generation Y consumers with social media campaigns and mobile technology development is not merely sufficient in eWOM marketing strategies. Instead, it is essential to create integrative peer communities to motivate Generation Y consumers to engage in eWOM marketing. Marketers need to pay attention to the mixed effects of family influences on the eWOM behaviors of subgroups of Generation Y in positive or negative service experiences.Originality/valueGiven the scarcity of consumer behavior research into Generation Y as an emerging market segment, this paper makes an incremental contribution by developing and validating a model of factors that influence Generation Y consumers’ eWOM intentions through social networking and mobile technologies in three major service contexts: positive, negative and recovery following a service failure.

Investigating the Dynamics and the Content of Customers’ Social Media Reporting after a Restaurant Service Failure

ABSTRACTThis study investigates how the dynamics of service failures in restaurants influence customers’ attitudes and electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) intentions on Social Media (SM). This study explores the escalating service failure continuum, including failure types, failure severity, and recovery efforts. Study 1 examines the influence of the different failures on customers’ positive and negative eWOM intentions. The findings suggest that the prevalent path begins with escalation of service failures that leads to customers’ attitude and eventually influences customers’ negative eWOM intentions. Study 2 further investigates various negative eWOM contents in SM. The findings suggest that customers’ negative eWOM becomes more aggressive as the service failure escalates. Interestingly, results also suggest that customers hold restraint and self-control with aggressiveness of their negative eWOMs.

Does Social Capital Matter on Social Media? An Examination Into Negative e-WOM Toward Competing Brands

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the use of social media contributes to the creation and dynamic process of social capital. By employing social capital theory, the study examined three dimensions of social capital (social interaction tie, community trust, and shared vision) and investigated the relationships between social capital, brand trust, brand loyalty, and negative e-word-of-mouth (e-WOM) about competing brands on restaurants’ Facebook fan pages. Data was collected with 242 student samples and analyzed with structural equation modeling. Our findings indicated that all the three dimensions significantly contribute to social capital. Social capital has a significantly positive effect on brand trust, which in turn positively affects brand loyalty. However, no significant relationship was found between brand trust and negative e-WOM about competing brands. The study enriches the research body of social capital theory and provides marketers strategies of designing Facebook fan pages.

Serving in a Social Media World - How to React Online to Negative Word of Mouth

Customers often rely on peers’ opinions and experiences when forming expectations and evaluating a service provider. New media channels such as consumer review platforms and social networking sites help customers obtain firsthand information from other customers to evaluate a service. Prior research confirms the effects of positive electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on recipients, yet less is known about how companies should respond to negative eWOM. The authors conducted a series of experimental studies in the context of new media online channels (i.e., consumer review sites and social media brand pages) to investigate the effects of various company response strategies on consumers’ perceptions. The results have two implications for service firms: First, adequate response strategies to negative eWOM compensate for the negative effects that occur when Internet users attribute responsibility to the firm. Second, the findings indicate that firms need both adequate response strategies and an engaged community to restore their perceived trustworthiness in consumers’ eyes. This research expands knowledge from service recovery research to new media channels and assesses the effects on eWOM receivers who observe customer–service provider and customer–customer interactions.

The study on negative eWOM and its relationship to consumer’s intention to switch Mobile Service Provider

Recent developments in social media has transformed consumer-brand trust relationship into consumer-consumer trust engagement where consumers make similar brand choices influenced by the opinion of other consumers. Consumers establish online networks and conversations embedded in trust, on similar tastes, viewpoints, preferences and other types of brand affinity behaviours. These online consumer conversations across multiple social media platforms contributes to voluminous electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). An average of 70% of consumers look out for other consumers’ opinions on a brand to learn more about the products or services of interest and out of this consumer generated contents, a whopping 50% are consumer grouses or complaints. This study identifies emerging key mobile service consumption elements highlighted by consumers in discussion thread revolving a viral, negative eWOM through qualitative method of netnography. The study findings include eWOM contains multiple and relevant consumer behavioural contextual elements that may be leveraged upon to understand how negative eWOM influences mobile consumer switching intentions in Malaysia.

Post-visit and pre-visit tourist destination image through eWOM sentiment analysis and perceived helpfulness

Purpose This paper aims to explore the image of travel destinations after the visit by analysing sentiment orientation of the online reviews, and how this orientation, as well as other electronic word of mouth (eWOM)’s credibility sources, can affect the perceived helpfulness of shared opinions measured through the helpfulness score. Design/methodology/approach Tourist destinations are increasingly affected by travel-related information shared through the Web. More and more people first check the previous travel experiences of other people to build their own destination image and to help them in their choice of destination. This paper analyses the shared opinions related to the city of Barcelona in a well-known eWOM website. The reviewers’ opinion and the credibility sources of eWOM are extracted from the web using a webscraper, while the sentiment score to analyse the discourse orientation (positive vs negative) is calculated using computer-based sentiment analysis techniques. Findings Online reviews’ users are reluctant to provide extreme polar opinions (very negative, very positive) to any travel subcategory (hotel, restaurant, attractions and night-life) of a tourist destination. The results obtained also reveal that eWOM’s perceived helpfulness grows with the expertise of the reviewer. However, the helpfulness score given to the reviews posted is not influenced by the sentiment orientation of the author’s opinion. Research limitations/implications This research is limited to the case study of Ciao, which is a well-known consumer platform, and the city of Barcelona, which is a top touristic destination. However, the approach proposed can be easily extended to other similar consumer platforms and cities using the same methodology. Practical implications Understanding the information posted in the media environment is a major concern in the field of marketing destination planning. Positive and negative eWOM offers potential consumers a clear picture on the tourist destination, and this information can be used by Destination Marketing Organisations to meet customers’ needs and expectations. The perceived helpfulness of reviews analysed in this paper can also help practitioners and scholars to understand those factors that make reviews more trustable. Originality/value From a methodological point of view, the main contribution of this research is the utilisation of an unstructured approach to the measurement of the destination image based on the sentiment analysis of shared opinions. From a theoretical point of view, the study relates the post-visit destination image with the pre-visit image formation process, using the sentiment orientation of the former and the perceived helpfulness of the latter.

Trust in online recommendations: an evolutionary psychology perspective

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is playing an increasingly important role in influencing consumer behavior, and it represents another opportunity for marketers to build support for their brands. This study explores how the gender of the reader influences how eWOM is perceived. An experiment grounded in evolutionary psychology examines how males and females differ in their perceived trust of eWOM of positive, negative, or mixed valence. The results indicate that females place greater trust than males in eWOM messages. But both genders find eWOM of mixed valence more trustworthy than entirely positive or negative eWOM. A follow-up phenomenological study of male and female consumers who had experienced eWOM shed more light on the experimental findings and offers additional support for their evolutionary basis. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well as recommendations for further research.

EWOM: Extant Research Review and Future Research Avenues

Executive Summary Word-of-mouth (WOM) communication is widely accepted as a critical factor in building marketing strategies and communications. Invention of the Internet and proliferation of social media have added a new electronic dimension to traditional WOM, thereby converting it into electronicWOM (eWOM). The extant literature has focused on various aspects of eWOM such as its effect on consumer’s purchase decision process, utilization of eWOM to build brand strength and consumer loyalty, information diffusion, and creating buzz among potential consumers. The purpose of this study is to do a systematic review and meet the two objectives: (1) summarize the extant literature in eWOM domain and (2) identify a few areas for future research. This article has been organized as follows. It starts with the definition and interrelationship between three keywords used in literature, which are traditional word-of-mouth (WOM), electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM, also referred as online word-of-mouth [OWOM]), and viral marketing. The article focuses on theoretical foundations and frameworks which form the basis of eWOM in the literature. eWOM borrows its foundation from different disciplines based on the research perspective. It highlights theories based on social perspective (sociology literature), information perspective (IS literature), and marketing perspective (specific theories from marketing literature). It identifies the motivational factors for consumer involvement in eWOM creation and diffusion process and summarizes the findings of literature on what drives consumer to spread eWOM on various channels. It discusses the findings from literature review on importance and effects of eWOM for marketing communications and marketing strategies. It provides actionable strategies for practitioners and marketers to suggest how they can utilize eWOM to improve performance, generate more sales and to communicate with consumers? It also looks at how to deal with negative eWOM and how a firm should respond to it. Finally, it analyses the current status of research and suggests a few areas for future researchers.

The Effect of Electronic Word of Mouth on Sales: A Meta-Analytic Review of Platform, Product, and Metric Factors

The increasing amount of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has significantly affected the way consumers make purchase decisions. Empirical studies have established an effect of eWOM on sales but disagree on which online platforms, products, and eWOM metrics moderate this effect. The authors conduct a meta-analysis of 1,532 effect sizes across 96 studies covering 40 platforms and 26 product categories. On average, eWOM is positively correlated with sales (.091), but its effectiveness differs across platform, product, and metric factors. For example, the effectiveness of eWOM on social media platforms is stronger when eWOM receivers can assess their own similarity to eWOM senders, whereas these homophily details do not influence the effectiveness of eWOM for e-commerce platforms. In addition, whereas eWOM has a stronger effect on sales for tangible goods new to the market, the product life cycle does not moderate the eWOM effectiveness for services. With respect to the eWOM metrics, eWOM volume has a stronger impact on sales than eWOM valence. In addition, negative eWOM does not always jeopardize sales, but high variability does.

Is negative eWOM more influential than negative pWOM?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of various sources of negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and negative personal word-of-mouth (pWOM) on trust in the Word-of-mouth (WOM), attitude toward the service provider and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered from 336 Moroccan workers who responded to an online survey. Findings – Results show that negative pWOM is more influential than negative eWOM in the form of written Facebook testimonials, written review site testimonials and written testimonials on a corporate website. However, there is a relative ranking of importance among eWOM sources, with review site testimonials found to be more influential than either Facebook or corporate website testimonials. Research limitations/implications – This work responds to a call for research on differences and similarities between pWOM and eWOM. The findings extend understanding of the relative influence of negative pWOM and negative eWOM. Practical implications – The results of this study provide guidance to service marketers in terms of strategies for deflecting negative WOM and allocating service recovery resources. Originality/value – This study is the first to compare the relative influence of negative pWOM and eWOM in service consumption.

Education, Educational Services and their Quality

eWOM Richness of Leisure Farm Tour Experience：Influences of Message Valence, Product Type and Consumer Knowledge Shuling Liao, Crystal Tzu-ying Lee, Tzu-han Lin, Meng-chen Lin Abstract Rich information facilitates consumer buying judgment and decision-making, and therefore enhances marketing communication effectiveness. Drawing on the information richness theory, this study attempts to address how valence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), product type and consumer knowledge will yield different levels of eWOM richness perception for experience goods versus search goods. The results based on a three-way experimental study with 156 valid responses suggest that negative eWOM has a stronger effect in producing eWOM information richness than does positive eWOM, and such effect is more pronounced for a leisure farm tour (experience goods) than for digital camera (search goods). The tendency that negative eWOM will provide richer information for the leisure farm tour is more evident for high-knowledge consumers than for low-knowledge consumers. The study’s results caution against the aggravated harm of negative eWOM incurred from the dissatisfactory experience of a leisure farm tour. The managerial implications for the practitioners are provided. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jmm.v3n2a6

Understanding why consumers engage in electronic word-of-mouth communication: Perspectives from theory of planned behavior and justice theory

Word-of-mouth has been recognized as a dominant factor in shaping consumer behavior. However, what drives consumers to post their positive and negative purchasing experiences in the online environment remains an important but largely neglected issue. Building on the theory of planned behavior, the justice theory and the social psychology literature, this study aims to investigate the antecedents of consumers’ intention to engage in eWOM communication. Specifically, we separate negative and positive eWOM into two distinct concepts since the motivations underlying consumers’ decisions to post positive and negative eWOM are likely to be different. Through an experience survey, respondents were required to reflect on recent positive or negative shopping experiences. The findings reveal that intentions to engage in positive and negative eWOM communication are associated with different antecedents. Consumers who intend to post positive eWOM appear to be more driven by underlying attitudinal factors, whereas those who consider posting negative eWOM are more driven by social pressure. In addition, consumers’ feelings of satisfaction are largely driven by their perception of distributive justice for negative shopping experiences. In contrast, satisfaction is significantly influenced by the perceptions of interactional and procedural justice for positive shopping experiences. Our results provide insights and implications for scholars and managers.

The effect of negative online customer reviews on brand equity and purchase intention of consumer electronics in South Africa

This study investigated the effect that negative online customer reviews have on brand equity and purchase intention. This research examined the influence of negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on brand equity, as influenced by customer review quality, product involvement and source credibility. A 3 (high quality review versus low quality review versus no review) × 2 (high product involvement versus low product involvement) factorial experiment with 236 respondents was conducted. The results revealed that the presence of negative eWOM has a significant detrimental effect on brand equity and purchase intention. Furthermore, the effect of negative online customer reviews is more detrimental to the brand equity of a high involvement product than a low involvement product. The results also revealed that high quality reviews are more influential than low quality reviews with respect to brand equity, and the difference between the levels of eWOM source credibility has no significant effect on brand equity.