Table Of Contenti
Consumer Behaviour and Social
Network Sites
This book provides a solid understanding of electronic word of
mouth (eWOM) by taking the reader through the process of informa-
tion diffusion from rumour generation in times of traditional word
of mouth (WOM) to negative social eWOM and examining how con-
sumers process it.
Consumer Behaviour and Social Network Sites tackles different themes
relating to negative eWOM. Drawing on both intensive scientific research
and professional examples, it bridges the gap between the academic
and professional worlds. The book contrasts negative social eWOM to
traditional WOM while discussing the specificities of different social
networking sites in diffusing such information. It looks at why and how
consumers decide to create, share and react to negative social eWOM,
suggesting that there are more reasons than are commonly presumed for
consumers to articulate themselves on these platforms. It also provides
an appreciation of web users’ behaviours with regards to negative social
eWOM and how it can alter their decision-m aking journey.
The book concludes with several strategies and key takeaways to
deal with and prevent negative social eWOM. Most books on WOM
are purely professional and lack the theoretical contextualization of the
issue. Moreover, they often provide insights on brand- to- consumer con-
versation but not consumer- to- consumer (C2C) communication. This
short book provides marketing academics, students and practitioners
with an important insight into these C2C communications that can
potentially be harmful to brands.
Sarah Zaraket received her PhD in Management Sciences at Pantheon-
Sorbonne University, Paris, France. She conducts research on consumer
behaviour on social media and has taught several courses on digital
marketing, research methodology and innovation. Sarah has assisted
many brands in successfully building their social media strategies.
ii
Routledge Focus on Business and Management
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areas of research and education. This growth presents challenges for
readers trying to keep up with the latest important insights. Routledge
Focus on Business and Management presents small books on big topics
and how they intersect with the world of business research.
Individually, each title in the series provides coverage of a key
academic topic, whilst collectively the series forms a comprehensive
collection across the business disciplines.
Entrepreneurial Urban Regeneration
Business Improvement Districts as a Form of Organizational Innovation
Rezart Prifti and Fatma Jaupi
Strategic University Management
Future Proofing Your Institution
Loren Falkenberg and M. Elizabeth Cannon
Innovation in Africa
Fuelling an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Growth and Prosperity
Deseye Umurhohwo
Consumer Behaviour and Social Network Sites
The Impact of Negative Word of Mouth
Sarah Zaraket
Artificial Intelligence in Accounting
Practical Applications
Cory Ng and John Alarcon
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge- Focus- on- Business- and- Management/ book- series/ FBM
iii
Consumer Behaviour and
Social Network Sites
The Impact of Negative Word
of Mouth
Sarah Zaraket
iv
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Sarah Zaraket
The right of Sarah Zaraket to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-i n- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 53283- 3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 08127- 2 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Newgen Publishing UK
v
To my father. The first person that liked and shared my story
long before Facebook ever existed. Thank you for always
being a beacon of positivity and truth even when it was easier
to spread negative words …
vi
vii
Contents
List of figures viii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 Once upon a word… 3
2 … social media amplified the voice for WOM 20
3 People started talking negatively about brands
on SNS … 36
4 … this impacted other consumer’s reactions 48
5 So how can you deal with NSWOM? 67
Conclusion 79
References 81
Index 97
viii
Figures
1.1 The classical model of communication 9
1.2 Types of eWOM communication 15
1.3 The evolution of the negative word 19
2.1 The escalation of NSWOM 31
3.1 The consumer decision journey on SNS 39
4.1 Processing NSWOM 65
5.1 Dealing with NSWOM and brand crisis 78
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Acknowledgements
I’ve always been fascinated by words and how people use them to tell
their stories. The story of the influence of words is one I’ve wanted
to tell for a while now. I would like to thank every single person that
contributed in making this story see the light of day.
Thank you to the outstanding people at Routledge for their follow up
and their undeniable professionalism, even during tough times.
Thank you to my amazingly supportive friends.
Thank you to my incredible brothers, the light of my life. Thank you
to my one of a kind father who instilled in me the love of knowledge
and intellectual curiosity. Thank you to my guardian angel and eternal
source of inspiration, my mother, not a day goes by where I don’t miss
you more.
