Countering Negative Online Reviews: The Impact of Response and Responder—A Structured Abstract

Abstract

The phenomenon of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has been the focus of a substantial amount of research, with negative eWOM receiving a great deal of that attention. Compared to positive ratings, negative reviews elicit stronger feelings toward both the brand and its performance (Mizerski 1982). Indeed, research indicates that four out of five online consumers have changed their decision to purchase based on a negative online product review (Cone 2011). While sales effects directly attributable to eWOM have been shown to be short-lived (Moe and Trusov 2011), little is known about the long-term impact of negative eWOM on a brand. A study of movie ticket sales, however, did find that the volume of reviews can have a significant impact on overall movie revenues (Duan et al. 2008), suggesting that there may be long-term effects of eWOM. While the power of eWOM is accepted, to date, extant literature has not specifically addressed the impact of responses to negative eWOM and how those responses may affect readers’ evaluations of the focal brand. Our research examines how a response (i.e., a negative review has been posted online and another person posts in reference to the original comment) can counter a negative online review and empirically examines the differing impact based on who responds.