Award Date

8-15-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

William F. Harrah College of Hospitality

First Committee Member

Billy Bai

Second Committee Member

Joseph Lema

Third Committee Member

Seyhmus Baloglu

Fourth Committee Member

Rebecca Gill

Number of Pages

108

Abstract

Social media posts have evolved into a powerful tool for consumers to explore and evaluate products, services, and businesses due to the increased accessibility of the Internet and rapidly developing real-time, mobile digital technologies. Based on stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory, involvement theory, and benign violation theory, this study examines how interactions between food and beverage businesses, customers, and commenters via social media posts about negative online reviews influence the attitudes and purchase intentions of observers.Two major studies with eight scenarios in total were designed and conducted. The negative reviews were classified into two categories: unreasonable negative reviews and negative reviews that included comparisons with the business's competitor. Both studies implemented a 2 (social media post creator: pro-business vs. anti-business) x 2 (social media post commenter: pro-business vs. anti-business) between-subjects design. In Study 1, 643 individuals, and in Study 2, 640 individuals were randomly distributed and assigned to each scenario, where food and beverage businesses responded to negative online reviews with aggressive humor, including other consumers' comments on social media posts. Both studies constructed structural equation models to analyze the results. Findings showed that consumer-inferred negative motives of the businesses behind aggressive humor and their appreciation of humor positively influence their attitudes toward the business, in turn serving as a significant determinant of their purchase intentions. Specifically, while attitudes toward social media posts did not directly impact purchase behavior, attitudes toward the business consistently were found to mediate the relationship between consumers’ impression of the business's response to negative online reviews and purchase intention, suggesting a more complex consumer decision-making process from a theoretical perspective. This study supported the application of SOR theory, expanded involvement theory, and benign violation theory by demonstrating that consumers could promote businesses that employ aggressive humor aimed at individuals who have posted negative reviews. Furthermore, the study revealed that increased customer involvement with social media content could correspond to more cognitive processes, which may lead to a more unfavorable perception of the associated business if customers perceive it as potentially harmful to them. The research also provided practical recommendations for hospitality businesses on how to address negative online reviews strategically with an understanding of consumers' perceptions of humor and inferred negative intentions to effectively defend the business and attract consumers simultaneously.

Keywords

Aggressive humor; Business-consumer interaction; Consumer behavioral intentions; Consumer-consumer interaction; Negative online review; Social media

Disciplines

Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Marketing

File Format

pdf

File Size

3400 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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Available for download on Thursday, August 15, 2030


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