Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-24-2026
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Abstract
Purpose
The study explores the paradoxical impact of managerial responses to negative comments on social media, revealing how offering compensation inadvertently escalates negativity into a vicious cycle. Through a unique Facebook policy quasi-experiment, we show that apologies, in contrast, effectively neutralize further complaints.
Design/methodology/approach
We utilize interactive data on Facebook to assess how firms' managerial responses to negative comments – particularly responses involving compensation topics – affect the volume and tone of subsequent complaints. Additionally, we use instrumental variables and difference-in-differences (DID) models to account for potential sources of endogeneity.
Findings
The results reveal that managerial response increase both the volume and negativity of subsequent posts, creating a “vicious” cycle of escalating complaints. This effect is stronger for messages that include compensation-related content. In contrast, apology-based responses do not lead to further negative commenting, indicating that the type of managerial response plays a critical role in influencing consumer behavior on social media.
Originality/value
This study highlights the importance of firm-generated response type in managing online complaints, which can drive subsequent commenting activities from other users. Firms can use the insights to provide more nuanced complaint-handling strategies and navigate consumer interactions in this interactive marketing era.
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Y., & Zhang, K. (2025). Feeding negativity on social media: How compensating customers creates vicious cycles of complaint. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 20(3), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-08-2024-0411
Comments
Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at Link to the terms of the CC BY 4.0 licence.