Emotional contagion and the spread of negative eWOM on SNS
(R2020-83415)

AUTHORS

sarah zaraket, Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne; Regine Vanheems, IAE Lyon

KEYWORDS

Negative electronic word of mouth; social networking sites; emotional contagion

ABSTRACT

The use of negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on social networking sites (SNS) has been known to have an impact on a brand’s image. Brands must pay attention to what consumers say on social networking sites about both them and the products they sell to protect their brand equity by shielding themselves from the diffusion of negative information. It is therefore important to understand the effects of negative eWOM on consumers. The aim of this paper is to understand how web users process negative information on social networking sites (SNS) and how this kind of information impacts both their online and offline behavior.