Consumer Revenge Using the Internet and Social Media: An Examination of the Role of Service Failure Types and Cognitive Appraisal Processes

Abstract

Given the pervasive spread and use of the Internet and social media, consumer use of these new forums for expressing their revenge intentions has also increased. This research examines the impacts of service outcome and service process failures on consumer online revenge intentions. Using insights from cognitive appraisal theory, a comprehensive model is developed and tested to examine the impacts of service failure types on consumers’ primary and secondary appraisal processes that lead to online revenge intentions. The model was tested in the United Kingdom and Jordan. Results show that for the two countries, different service failure types lead to different cognitive appraisal processes, and to intentions to use different online revenge platforms.

Social media revenge: A typology of online consumer revenge

“…The Internet and its social media platforms provides angry consumers with a riskless and high-reach medium for getting back at misbehaving firms. These mechanisms widen the scope of consumers' actions from a limited audience to an international audience of millions, while requiring minimal effort and no significant cost (Obeidat et al, 2017).…”

Worry and anger from flight delay: Antecedents and consequences

“…This finding supports the theoretical prediction that appraisal of goal congruent determines the valence of emotions (Dastani, Lorini, Meyer, & Pankov, ; So et al, ). In other words, goal congruent situations elicit positive emotions (Hosany, ; Ma et al, ), and goal incongruent situations elicit negative emotions (Johnson & Stewart, ; Nyer, ; Obeidat, Xiao, Iyer, & Nicholson, ; Prayag & Del Chiappa, ; Roseman et al, ).…”

Who's got my back? Comparing consumers' reactions to peer‐provided and firm‐provided customer support

“…As one might expect, much of the existing services literature assumes that the firm serves as the primary provider of customer support (Gronroos, 1988;Tax et al, 1998). For example, a large body of prior research suggests that when a firm provides an inadequate response to a service failure incident, customers' satisfaction (i.e., the degree to which they like or feel favorable about a focal service encounter or solution; Crosby & Stephens, 1987) decreases and their propensity to defect and/or retaliate against the service-providing firm increases (Chang, 2006;Grégoire, Tripp, & Legoux, 2009;McColl-Kennedy & Sparks, 2003;Obeidat, Xiao, Iyer, & Nicholson, 2017). However, recent research and practice offer an expanded view that recognizes the active role that consumers often play in providing customer support to their peers.…”