Negative word of mouth and recovery strategies in online brand communities: a commitment-trust theory perspective

Online brand communities are important avenues for interaction between brands and customers. In situations when customers spread negative word of mouth (nWOM) in the community, brands should utilize recovery strategies that address the nWOM and lead to customer satisfaction. Existing literature on online brand communities provides limited insight into optimal recovery strategies and nWOM in online communities. Based on studies of online brand communities and recovery strategies, and utilizing commitment-trust theory, the present study explores customer engagement in online nWOM in online brand communities. The present study reveals three groups of members of online brand communities, namely passive & persistent, recurrent & recurrent, and persistent & passive customers. Each group has different levels of engagement in nWOM and recovery strategy expectations. The study proposes two mediators of customers’ recovery strategy expectations: (1) customers’ engagement with a brand, and trust in and commitment to the brand; and (2) customers’ engagement with community members, and trust in and commitment to community members.