Past research on word-of-mouth has presented inconsistent evidence as to whether consumers are more inclined to share positive or negative information about products and services. Some findings suggest that consumers are more inclined to engage in positive word-of-mouth, whereas others suggest that consumers are more inclined to engage in negative word-of-mouth. The present research offers a theoretical perspective that provides one means to resolve these seemingly contradictory findings. Specifically, the present work compares the generation of word-of-mouth (i.e., consumers sharing information about their own experiences) to the transmission of word-mouth (i.e., consumers passing-on information about experiences they heard occurred to others). The authors suggest that a basic human motive to self-enhance leads consumers to generate positive word-of-mouth (i.e., share information about their own positive consumption experiences), but transmit negative word-of-mouth (i.e., pass-on information they heard about other’s negative consumption experiences). The authors present evidence for self-enhancement motives playing out in opposite ways at word-of-mouth generation compared to word-of-mouth transmission across four experiments

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This study analyzes the impact of ethical motivations, food safety and health-related concerns on purchasing intentions of habitual and less frequent consumers of organic food. A sample of 291 subjects was surveyed through a paper-and-pencil questionnaire and classified either as "regular" or "occasional" purchasers of organic food according to their buying frequency. Results show different determinants of intention for the two groups of subjects: ethical motivations affect the purchase intentions of regular consumers, whereas food safety concerns influence the purchase intentions of occasional consumers. Implications are discussed.Giovanni Pino is a PhD student at the

The study contributes to the debate in the HRM literature by examining the role of trust in management in moderating the effect of HRM practices on employee attitudes. The novelty of the study lies in our interest in assessing this relationship not only on a system of HR practices, but also considering whether the influence varies according to specific ‘bundles’ of practices. Adopting a Structural Equation Modelling approach, we first test the moderation using an HRM index of seven practices on a sample of 9,000 employees from 46 Italian organisations. Then, following the AMO approach, we assess the relationship on three ‘bundles’ of practices, one oriented to increasing ability, another motivation and the third opportunity to participate. Results confirm the moderation with the overall HRM index. Interestingly, the effect varies depending on the HR bundles, being significant only with the motivation practices and not relevant in the other two bundles

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Despite society’s increasing sensitivity toward green production, companies often struggle to find effective communication strategies that induce consumers to buy green products or engage in other environmentally friendly behaviors. To add clarity to this situation, we investigated the effectiveness of negative versus positive message framing in promoting green products, whereby companies highlight the detrimental versus beneficial environmental consequences of choosing less versus more green options, respectively. Across four experiments, we show that negatively framed messages are more effective than positively framed ones in prompting consumers to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. More importantly, we find that anticipated shame is the emotion responsible for this effect. Furthermore, both environmental concern and the type of product promoted serve as moderators; thus, the mediating role of anticipated shame is attenuated when environmental concern is low and the product is a luxury one. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our work, along with its limitations and some directions for future research