Business Commons^™

Social Media And Negative Word Of Mouth: Strategies For Handing Unexpecting Comments, Jane B. Thomas, Cara O. Peters, Emelia G. Howell, Keith Robbins

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Increased usage of social media by consumers impacts businesses that find it necessary to participate to connect with customers. Because social media is conversational in nature, marketers have little control over the message, unlike more traditional forms of marketing communication. The purpose of this paper is to flesh out the tensions that exist as marketers deal with consumer-generated negative social media messages and present possible responses for marketers dealing with this form of negative word of mouth (WOM). Its contribution lies in unpacking options for companies dealing with such negative social media. Case studies and a conceptual model identifying possible …