New publication in JAMS

21 May 2019

The work of the research group has resulted in a further publication. The paper "When pushing back is good: the effectiveness of brand responses to social media complaints" by Marius Johnen and Oliver Schnittka was accepted for publication in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.

In their projekt, the authors analyze how observers of the communication between complainants and brands perceive and react to different types of brand response strategies. Convential wisdom suggests that brand should respond in an accommodative way to consumer complaints. However, this research shows that observers of the communication between complainants and brands on social media may prefer a defensive response under specific conditions. Thus, this study helps managers to find optimal responses to social media complaints, thereby minimizing negative consequences.

Specifically, Johnen and Schnittka introduce a previously unexamined key moderator that takes account of the observer perspective: the benefits sought in the context of a complainant–brand interaction (e.g., brand presences in social media). Hence, they differentiate hedonic from utilitarian contexts and note the distinct observer benefits and corresponding preferences. A field study and a series of experiments show that a defensive response can be superior in hedonic contexts but inferior inutilitarian ones. They also show how response strategy indirectly affects observers’ behavioral consequences and identify com-plaint reasoning and brand communication style as relevant boundary conditions.

This research is a result of project B.1 in the first funding period, when our research group investigated different topics regarding the impact of negative consumer statements in digital social media.

Johnen, M., & Schnittka, O. (2019). When pushing back is good: the effectiveness of brand responses to social media complaints. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, forthcoming.