Impacts of consumer negative emotion and attitude on word-of-mouth complaining behaviour: Risk avoidance and voice as moderators

Abstract

Customers’ responses to problems in the marketplace continue to be an issue of concern for both retailers and consumer behaviour researchers. Several studies have documented how and why consumers respond to perceived dissatisfaction in particular ways; however, little is known about its drivers. In this regard, the important role played by negative word-of-mouth in providing opportunities for retailers to recognise failure points and fix problems arising from their offerings cannot be over-emphasised.
This study expands on previous research by investigating the drivers of negative word-of-mouth. The specific drivers assessed were perceived value dimensions, consumer negative emotion, attitude toward complaining and external action within a model examining impacts of these antecedents and their consequences on negative word-of-mouth. Risk avoidance and voice were also included as moderators to test their impact on the outcome variable. The negative word-of-mouth model tested 290 (Study 1) and 201 retail consumers (Study 2) at two different time points with a four-year gap to capture differences in consumers’ views.
Empirical results in this study suggest the increasing significance of the role of negative word-of-mouth in decision making by today’s retail consumers, identifying the changing nature of value dimensions (monetary, functional, emotional and social values) and related consumer negative emotion toward negative word-of-mouth. While no change was found in social, emotional and monetary values, functional value changed over the study’s time frame.
Interestingly, attitude toward spreading negative word-of-mouth appeared to change, but the relationships between taking external action and negative word-of-mouth were unchanged in both studies. Consumers with risk-taking attributes (e.g., self-confidence, positive attitude toward complaining) and who used voice complaints were found to be significant moderators in Study 1 but not in Study 2.
This study is innovative as it bridges an inherent gap in the impact of negative word-of-mouth on attitude and the perceived value attached by customers to the behaviour. The study contributes to marketing theory by examining additional drivers and revealing different effects of perceived value dimensions, risk avoidance and consumer negative emotion on behavioural outcomes. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the study’s findings.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Johra FATIMA (Supervisor) & Raechel JOHNS (Supervisor)