To Defend or Not to Defend? How Responses to Negative Customer Review Affect Prospective customers' Distrust and Purchase Intention

Negative online reviews are a ubiquitous problem that affects every online seller at some point. It can lead to prospective consumers' distrust and decrease future purchase intention. Therefore, formulating a proper response is essential for minimizing these negative effects. Based on the ability-motivation paradigm and stability attribution, we find that apology works better when the alleged cause is relatively unstable (e.g., competence-based negative review) and when the seller has a high ability to change. However, when the alleged cause is relatively stable (e.g., integrity-based negative review) or when the seller has a low ability to change, we show that it is better for the seller to defend its reputation. In addition, we demonstrate that a remedial action plan in the seller's response can reinforce the motivation to change communicated through apology. Thus, coupled with a remedial action plan, apology works better than defending one's reputation, regardless of the negative online review type. (C) 2020 Direct Marketing Educational Foundation, Inc. dba Marketing EDGE. All rights reserved.