Impact of emotional intensity of negative word-of-mouth on perceived helpfulness in social media

Abstract

PurposeNegative word-of-mouth has a variety of negative effects on companies. Thus, how consumers process and evaluate negative word-of-mouth is an important issue for companies. This research aims to investigate the effect of emotional intensity of negative word-of-mouth on consumers' perceived helpfulness.Design/methodology/approachThe research model was developed based on attribution theory. A four-study approach involving two field experiments and two online experiments was employed to examine the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that the emotional intensity of negative word-of-mouth negatively affects altruistic motive attributions, while altruistic motive attributions positively affect perceived helpfulness and plays a mediating role in the relationship between the emotional intensity of negative word-of-mouth and perceived helpfulness. Consumers' self-construal moderates the effects of emotional intensity of negative word-of-mouth on altruistic motive attributions and perceived helpfulness, with the negative effects of emotional intensity of negative word-of-mouth on altruistic motive attributions and perceived helpfulness being weaker for consumers with high interdependent self-construal than for those with high independent self-construal.Originality/valueThe findings not only have a significant theoretical contribution, deepening the understanding of the effects of negative word-of-mouth but also have useful implications for practitioners to improve the management of negative word-of-mouth.

The effect of emotional changes in composite reviews on consumers' information adoption from a dual perspective

“…(2017) propose that the marginal effect of emotional arousal on perceived helpfulness is positive at low levels of arousal but diminishes at higher levels. Chen and Zhang (2022) reach a similar conclusion experimentally and suggest that this results from the negative effect of emotional intensity on altruistic motivation, which then reduces perceived helpfulness. In summary, these studies focus on the effects of changes in the emotional intensity of a single review.…”

“…Third, while previous research has examined the effect of the static nature of emotional intensity in individual online reviews on aspects such as credibility, perceived usefulness, and buying intentions (Wang et al, 2022;Li et al, 2020;Chen and Zhang, 2022), and has also considered the variations in emotional intensity among different reviewers (Yin et al, 2021), it has overlooked the effects of fluctuating emotional intensity within the same reviewer. This study addresses this gap by introducing the variable of dynamic changes in emotional intensity and exploring its moderating effect on composite comments.…”

“…Moreover, the impact of emotional intensity on positive versus negative reviews differs significantly. (Jensen et al, 2013;Li et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2022;Lee et al, 2017;Yin et al, 2017;Chen and Zhang, 2022). In conclusion, most previous research concentrates on static representations of the emotional intensity of single reviews, focusing on the differences in emotional intensity between reviews posted by different consumers, whilst neglecting the differences in the variation in emotional intensity of composite reviews posted by the same consumer.…”

The Impact of Online Negative Reviews on Consumer Purchasing Intention in the Apparel Industry: The Mediating Role of Perceived Risk

“…The emotional intensity of negative reviews positively influences the degree of perceived risk. Thoughts with strong negative emotions are perceived as more accurate and helpful for potential consumers to avoid risks (Cai et al, 2017;Chen & Zhang, 2022). The more comprehensive and certain the emotions expressed in negative reviews, the more likely they evoke a sense of identification and agreement, thereby increasing perceived uncertainty and severity of consequences (Park et al, 2007;Chen & Zhang, 2023).…”

How source of product acquisition affects consumers' reliance on positive word-of-mouth: a mental imagery perspective

“…The impact of word of mouth (WOM) on consumer responses, such as trust and loyalty, and on companies' marketing performance has been extensively studied (Ameri et al , 2019; Lafreniere et al , 2022; Villanueva et al , 2008). Researchers have discussed the impact of factors such as the source characteristics, content characteristics and transmission channels of WOM (Chen and Zhang, 2022; Jia et al , 2022; Kim et al , 2020; Raju, 2019). While researchers have mainly focused on online reviews on e-commerce platforms, the development of social media has gradually broadened their research focus to include different types of WOM communication on social media platforms (Chakraborty, 2019; Ransbotham et al , 2019; Schweidel and Moe, 2014).…”