The Enhancing Versus Backfiring Effects of Positive Emotion in Consumer Reviews

Rocklage, Matthew D.; Fázio, Russell H.

doi:10.1177/0022243719892594

Cited by 87 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Research by Hamilton, Vohs, and McGill (2014) found that the use of dispreferred markers as a means of softening the negative information featured in reviews (“I’ll be honest…”) led to higher willingness to pay for products because this makes reviewers appear more credible and likable. Finally, work by Rocklage and Fazio (2020) finds that effusive positive emotionality can increase evaluations for hedonic products but lower evaluations for utilitarian products. Previous research has also identified attributional elements in reviews that can positively or negatively affect the interpretation of the review by consumers, such as changing the focus from dispositional drivers to external causes of the reviewers’ behavior (Chen and Lurie 2013; Kupor and Tormala 2018; Mizerski 1982).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, while the majority of WOM research finds that negative reviews lead to negative consumer responses, we highlight a novel boundary condition for this effect—the degree to which the review is seen to be unfair. In doing so, we build on an emerging body of work documenting that the cues within the review content can influence consumer responses (Chen and Lurie 2013; Hamilton, Vohs, and McGill 2014; Rocklage and Fazio 2020). We find that, in addition to elements that enhance the credibility of the review (e.g., temporal cues, dispreferred markers, deviatory reviews, emotionality), perceived unfairness in reviews can enhance empathy, motivating subsequent helping and positive intentions toward the firm.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Negative Reviews, Positive Impact: Consumer Empathetic Responding to Unfair Word of Mouth

Allard¹,

Dunn²,

White³

2020

Journal of Marketing

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This research documents how negative reviews, when perceived as unfair, can activate feelings of empathy toward firms that have been wronged. Six studies and four supplemental experiments provide converging evidence that this experienced empathy for the firm motivates supportive consumer responses such as paying higher purchase prices and reporting increased patronage intentions. Importantly, this research highlights factors that can increase or decrease empathy toward a firm. For instance, adopting the reviewer’s perspective when evaluating an unfair negative review can reduce positive consumer responses to a firm, whereas conditions that enhance the ability to experience empathy—such as when reviews are highly unfair, when the identity of the employee is made salient, or when the firm responds in an empathetic manner—can result in positive consumer responses toward the firm. Overall, this work extends the understanding of consumers’ responses to word of mouth in the marketplace by highlighting the role of perceived (un)fairness. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings for better management of consumer reviews.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Negative Reviews, Positive Impact: Consumer Empathetic Responding to Unfair Word of Mouth

Allard¹,

Dunn²,

White³

2020

Journal of Marketing

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“…Product category moderates this effect: greater emotionality has a positive impact on helpfulness ratings and product evaluations for hedonic purchases, but a negative impact for utilitarian purchases. This occurs because senders who use consistent, expected language (i.e., emotional language for hedonic products) produce a positive player signal about themselves and are therefore perceived as more trustworthy (Rocklage & Fazio, ).…”

Section: Sendermentioning

confidence: 99%

How online word‐of‐mouth impacts receivers

Moore

Lafreniere

2019

Consumer Psychology Review

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Online word‐of‐mouth (WOM) can impact consumers’ product evaluations, purchase intentions, and choices—but when does it do so? How do those receiving WOM know whether to rely on a particular message? This article suggests that the multiple players involved in online WOM (receivers, senders, sellers, platforms, and other consumers) each have their own interests, which are often in conflict. Thus, receivers of WOM are faced with a judgment task in deciding what information to rely on: They must make inferences about the product in question and about the players who provide or present WOM. To do so, they use signals embedded in various components of WOM, such as average star ratings, message content, or sender characteristics. The product and player information provided by these signals shapes the impact of WOM by allowing receivers to make inferences about (a) their likelihood of product satisfaction, and (b) the trustworthiness of WOM players, and therefore the trustworthiness of their content. This article summarizes how each player changes the impact of online WOM, providing a lens for understanding the current literature in online WOM, offering insights for theory in this context, and opening up pathways for future research.

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“…Second, we aimed to examine a behavioral outcome that potentially results from decreased happiness with purchases: less positive (more negative) consumer reviews. Recent work shows that people who are more positive about a purchase express more positive emotions in their reviews (Rocklage and Fazio 2020). Therefore, if financially constrained consumers derive less happiness from their purchases, they should also write less positive reviews for their purchases.…”

Section: Study 2: Consumer Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financial Constraints and Purchase Happiness

Rs¹,

Sharma²,

Fitzsimons³

2020

Preprint

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Financial constraints change attention, choice, and consumption in important ways. This work examines how financial constraints affect one important outcome at a later stage of the consumer decision-making process: purchase happiness. Eight high-powered studies (N = 7,481) demonstrate that financial constraints decrease the happiness consumers derive from their purchases. This, in turn, leads to a consequential outcome: less favorable consumer reviews. This effect occurs because consumers who feel more (vs. less) financially constrained are more likely to consider opportunity costs when evaluating their purchases. Furthermore, this effect is independent of consumers’ objective constraints (e.g. income) and social class, is not due to a general decrease in life satisfaction or mood, and is robust across several purchase types. Consistent with our proposed mechanism, the effect attenuates when opportunity costs are made salient and when consumers consider purchases for which opportunity costs are naturally less salient (i.e., planned purchases). Moreover, although financial constraints decrease actual purchase happiness, they increase expected purchase happiness, suggesting that financial constraints can have differential effects across decision-making stages. Finally, we meta-analyze our file drawer (17,750 participants; 33 studies) to examine how the effect differs across purchase types and discuss theoretical and practical contributions for consumers and marketers.

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The Enhancing Versus Backfiring Effects of Positive Emotion in Consumer Reviews

Cited by 87 publications

References 76 publications

Negative Reviews, Positive Impact: Consumer Empathetic Responding to Unfair Word of Mouth

Negative Reviews, Positive Impact: Consumer Empathetic Responding to Unfair Word of Mouth

How online word‐of‐mouth impacts receivers

Financial Constraints and Purchase Happiness

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