Hantering av negativ eWOM på Twitter - Ett sätt att skapa kundrelationer
Consumers are facing a wide selection of brands trying to get their attention. An increasing amount of corporations are incorporating non-traditional media in their marketing strategies as an attempt to build relationships with their customers. However, along with the new opportunities to enhance consumer emotions about the brand, social media has brought along new risks for corporations to face. This paper investigates the consequences of different ways of handling such electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) crisis on Twitter. Furthermore, we investigate potential differences depending on the credibility of the source that sent the message. The subject is of interest since by using Twitter, dissatisfied customers can spread negative WOM to millions of other users, and thus create a crisis. In order to compare the consequences, we carry out an experiment, exposing respondents to four alternative ways of handling negative eWOM, written by either a journalist or a consumer, for two brands. We conclude that negative eWOM can be seen as a crisis regardless of the source of the message and that the corporation?s response effects important brand associations. The paper contributes to the literature of crisis management and eWOM and provides strong support that a corporation, by acknowledging eWOM, can recover negative effects on brand associations and sometimes even enhance positive associations.