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“Never eat in that restaurant, I did!”: Exploring why people engage in negative word‐of‐mouth communication
Author(s) -
Wetzer Inge M.,
Zeelenberg Marcel,
Pieters Rik
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.20178
Subject(s) - regret , psychology , word of mouth , feeling , anger , social psychology , advertising , business , machine learning , computer science
What do consumers want to achieve when they engage in negative word‐of‐mouth communication (N‐WOM)? Two studies explore this question and reveal that consumers pursue specific goals when engaging in N‐WOM and that these goals systematically differ between the specific negative emotions that are experienced. For example, the results reveal that consumers who experience anger engage in N‐WOM to vent feelings or to take revenge. However, disappointed consumers engage in N‐WOM to warn others, and consumers who experience regret communicate with others to strengthen social bonds or to warn them. This reveals the functionality of specific emotions to N‐WOM, and how goals for N‐WOM are associated with these emotions. This demonstrates that rather than being uniform, the content and implications of N‐WOM are contingent on the specific emotions that consumers experience. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.