Abstract
Purpose – Word-of-mouth (WOM) valence refers to the favorable impact of positive WOM on marketing outcomes. However, studies have shown that negative WOM can have a greater influence. Therefore, this study aims to explore the impact of negative online WOM (OWOM) on marketing.
Theoretical framework – Drawing from the perspectives of psychology and communication, and using the sender-message-channel-receiver (SMCR) communication process theory, we construct a moderated mediation model to explore the mechanism and threshold of WOM recipients’ product involvement in reversing the impact of WOM valence on product attitude.
Design/methodology/approach – SPSS 22.0 and SmartPLS 3.0 were used to empirically analyze the survey data from a sample of 1,107 consumers.
Findings – Our study reveals a nonlinear relationship between negative OWOM recipients’ product involvement and consumer product attitude, mediated by risk perception and moderated by sender characteristics and WOM characteristics. The relationship shows a U-shaped curve between product involvement and product attitude, and an inverted U shaped curve between product involvement and risk perception. Risk perception mediates the relationship between product involvement and product attitude, which varies with the strength of the senderrecipient relationship and the amount of negative WOM. Sender professionalism moderates both the U-shaped and the inverted U-shaped curves.
Practical & social implications of research – From a practical standpoint, our findings have implications for the management of OWOM marketing for fresh agricultural products.
Originality/value – Our study provides a more nuanced understanding of the impact of negative WOM on consumer attitudes, challenging the one-sided focus on strengthening positive WOM valence in the context of the Internet.
Keywords: Negative online word-of-mouth, recipient characteristics, fresh agricultural products, product attitude, product involvement.
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