The authors examine the effects of negatively valenced emotional expressions (NVEE; e.g., intense language, all caps, exclamation points, emoticons) in online reviews and reveal important boundary conditions for their effects. Specifically, Study 1 showed that NVEE directly promote review helpfulness and damage attitude toward the product when used by experts. In contrast, for novices, their use of NVEE was considered a poor reflection on them and failed to directly affect attitude toward the product. Further, attributions of reviewer rationality and trustworthiness were positively associated with review helpfulness and attitude toward the product. Interestingly, language complexity is a trigger to reverse the effects, as found in Study 2. For novices (experts), the adverse effect on trustworthiness is eliminated (introduced) but the adverse effect on attitude toward the product is introduced (eliminated) when they include more complex language accompanied by NVEE in their online reviews. Both studies uncover when source discounting is active for experts and novices, making them equally influential in some cases. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided.

Purpose Organizations can benefit significantly from the growing capabilities of the internet. As the Web facilitates purchasing and reduces the costs of marketing, companies can connect with customers through the use of storytelling. This study aims to examine how small businesses leverage the use of storytelling to engage with customers and drive revenue and online reputation management. Design/methodology/approach Both qualitative and quantitative insights are offered in two studies. In Study 1, interviews were conducted with business owners to explore the efforts made by their companies to connect and engage with consumers online. Study 2 builds on the findings from Study 1 and uses survey methodology to test a model which outlines how storytelling can foster engagement with customers. Findings Results indicate that story content is positively related to emotional content and the personal connection an individual feels toward a firm’s products. Furthermore, user-generated content moderates the relationship between story content creation and personal connections. Findings also demonstrate that personal connection is essential to customer engagement. Ultimately, engagement can lead to revenue generation from social commerce as well as increased reputation management activity. Originality/value This research demonstrates how small businesses can use the power of storytelling to immerse and transport audiences in such a way that customer beliefs and attitudes toward the firm are impacted in a favorable way. By telling its brand story well, firms have the power to increase the value of their products.

Past research has demonstrated that consumers' price fairness judgments are influenced by comparisons between the offer price they receive and the prices paid by other consumers for the same product offering. In today's digital age, reference points for purchases are more prevalent than ever. However, investigations on how certain inputs of the transaction affect these judgments is lacking. Specifically, extant research has failed to account for how the purchase efforts of other consumers can influence one's own price fairness evaluations. Moreover, relatively little empirical research has endeavored to understand the simultaneous cognitive and affective processes that explain how consumers arrive at price fairness judgments. To address these gaps in the literature, we introduce two studies aimed at understanding the process through which the salient efforts of referent consumers serve to mitigate perceptions of price unfairness when two customers pay different prices for the same product. The findings support a dual‐process model whereby the efforts of other (referent) customers serve to simultaneously reduce buyer anger and increase buyer understanding of the price disparity, ultimately mitigating perceptions of price unfairness.

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