Research On The Effect Of Negative E-word Of Mouth On The Public Brand Attitude Under Brand Crisis

With the development of electronic information technology,social media platforms keep emerging,and electronic reputation is gradually formed.Compared with traditional word of mouth,electronic word of mouth has the characteristics of wide spread,fast transmission speed,short timeliness and so on,and the influence generated by electronic word of mouth has reached an unprecedented standard.When an enterprise has a brand crisis,the negative e-word of mouth mode will further deepen the negative public opinion atmosphere,and then affect the product and brand image of the enterprise.The anonymity of social media platforms allows the public to express their feelings automatically,especially when they encounter a crisis of brand function or value.Previous studies have shown that positive e-word of mouth can certainly bring positive effects on enterprises or brands,but negative e-word of mouth on enterprises or brands will have a more significant impact on the attitude and behavior of the public.Because negative e-word of mouth is mixed with more emotional factors,and it is often associated with dissatisfaction or resistance,which can lead to negative brand attitudes of the public.The existing research focuses on the role of word of mouth and consumer behavior,purchase intention,and the factors influencing the formation of word of mouth.There are few studies on word of mouth and the public as potential consumers with broad influence.Therefore,this study focuses on the extent to which rapidly negative e-word-of-mouth influences the brand attitude of the public that is not related to the current consumer behavior when brand crisis occurs.Based on the review of a large number of research literature,this paper constructs a theoretical model and makes relevant assumptions,mainly exploring the influence of negative e-word-of-mouth on public brand attitudes under the brand crisis.Meanwhile,in the process of exploring the effect of negative electronic word-of-mouth on public brand attitude,we introduce social identity,a public psychological emotion variable,to examine the mediating effect of social identity.In addition,self-construction,a type variable of personal characteristics,is introduced to explore the moderating factors for different types of public when negative electronic word-of-mouth arouses changes in public mood.This paper mainly explores the moderating effect of different types of self-construction when negative e-word-of-mouth affects public brand attitude,and the moderating effect of different types of self-construction when negative e-word-of-mouth affects social identity.In addition,It will also examine whether social identity is mediated by self-constructed variables.This research uses the questionnaire survey as the research methods,collecting 271 valid data of exploratory factors and confirmatory factor analysis.Through correlation analysis and regression analysis,the model constructed in this paper and the proposed research hypothesis were verified,and the data results showed: In the context of brand crisis,negative e-word-of-mouth has a significant negative impact on public brand attitudes,and social identity plays a part of the intermediary role in this process.What's more,compared with the functional brand crisis,the negative electronic word of mouth has a greater negative impact on the public brand attitude under the value brand crisis.Self-construction plays a regulating role in the process of negative e-word of mouth influencing brand attitude.Compared with the independent self-constructed public,the negative e-word of mouth has a greater influence on the brand attitude of the dependent self-constructed public.Self-construction plays a regulating role in the process of negative electronic word of mouth influencing social identity.Compared with the independent self-constructed public,the negative electronic word of mouth has a greater impact on the social identity of the dependent self-constructed public.The innovation of this research mainly lies in the innovation of the research perspective.First of all,based on the brand crisis situation,the data survey takes specific brand crisis events as the entry point to carry out the impact of negative electronic public praise on the public's attitude towards the brand,and aims to provide reference for the subsequent brand image repair.In the second place,while most studies explore the relationship between negative word of mouth and consumer attitudes and behaviors,this paper focuses on the irrelevant public as a potential consumer.Last but not least,this paper starts from studying the reaction of psychological factors,aiming to figure out the reaction mechanism of public psychological state.So as to further explore the behavioral direction of psychological reaction,and then adopt effective strategies to minimize the loss caused by brand crisis.