Don't be rude! The effect of content moderation on consumer-brand forgiveness
Corresponding Author
George Christodoulides
American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Correspondence George Christodoulides, American University of Sharjah, University City PO Box 26666, Sharjah, UAE.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorMaximilian H. E. E. Gerrath
Marketing Division, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Search for more papers by this authorNikoletta T. Siamagka
Department of Economics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Aristotle University Campus, Thessaloniki, Greece
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
George Christodoulides
American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Correspondence George Christodoulides, American University of Sharjah, University City PO Box 26666, Sharjah, UAE.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorMaximilian H. E. E. Gerrath
Marketing Division, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Search for more papers by this authorNikoletta T. Siamagka
Department of Economics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Aristotle University Campus, Thessaloniki, Greece
Search for more papers by this authorAll authors have contributed equally and are listed in alphabetical order.
Abstract
While it is a popular belief that venting helps unload frustrations about negative (customer) experiences, its effects on consumers' emotional states and consumer-brand forgiveness (CBF) remain to be explored. Given that a lot of customer complaints are made online, brands seem ambivalent about managing these public complaints without violating consumers' right to free speech. In two experiments, we find that writing a customer complaint increases negative emotions regarding an incident. Moreover, brands can mitigate this negative effect by asking consumers to moderate their speech—for example, with the help of a content moderation policy. Specifically, if brands impose restrictions on consumers' freedom to express their frustrations, essentially asking them for self-censorship, anger levels in their language decrease and CBF increases. We demonstrate that this effect is stronger for consumers with strong self-brand connection.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.
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