Purpose As customers increasingly adopt social media as the primary channel to reach out to companies, voicing is becoming a public act. Adopting a social psychological perspective, this study aims to focus on the social dynamics that drive consumer voice on social media. Design/methodology/approach The research uses three studies. First, a list of metaperceptions about voicing behavior is compiled using the critical incident technique, and then the hypothesized effects are tested with two scenario-based experiments. Findings Metaperceptions mediate the relationship between social anxiety and the intention to voice on social media. Self-construal moderates the effect of metaperceptions, such that in the presence of a negative metaperception, the reluctance to post a direct complaint is attenuated under independent self-construal. Independent self-construal attenuates the positive effect of positive metaperception. An experimental comparison between social media and consumer review sites reveals that metaperceptions are only prevalent in social media and when the complainer construes him or herself as interdependent. Originality/value Since lodging a direct complaint to a service provider has been mainly conceived as a private behavior, the role of social dynamics in the context of voicing remains under-researched. Aiming to fill this gap, the present research empirically examines how the presence of a perceived audience affects voicing behavior.
The study aims to examine how and why consumers’ intention to adopt aggregate review metrics (ARM) (e.g., product ratings) versus individual reviews (IR) (e.g., specific review texts) in an online shopping setting is differentially affected when both types of cues are salient. First, we provide a novel conceptualization of ARM as a “base rate cue” consisting of abstract, aggregated, category-level, and pallid elements; likewise, IR as a “case information cue” consisting of concrete, characteristi, and vivid elements. Construal level theory constitutes the theoretical foundation of this study. The research includes two major studies. First, a list of elements that influence the relative importance of the cue types (i.e., ARM vs IR) on consumer decision-making is compiled using in-depth interviews. Then, a pilot and an experimental study are designed to test our hypothesis. Findings prove that consumers’ intention to adopt IR (ARM) is increased (decreased) when they are in a concrete mind-set. Likewise, consumers’ intention to adopt the ARM (IR) is increased (decreased) when they are in the abstract mind-set. The results contribute to the existing literature on electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and construal level theory, as well as provide novel insights for managers as to the prioritization of cue types in line with the mental construal of consumers.
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