New Product Buzz: Measurement, Mode of Action and Influence of Dynamic, Collective Anticipation in Digital Social Media; first funding phase: Trash-Talk and Firestorm: Influences of Negative Customer Comments in Digital Social Networks on Brand Value

在B1的第一个资助阶段，共有六篇学术论文，我们对负面口碑（nWOM）的影响和管理有了全面的理解，特别是社交媒体风暴。在第一步中，我。a.实验表明，nWOM -相反pWOM-是在功能性品牌社区的价值，但引发负面反应，在社会导向的品牌社区DSM。在第二步中，我们分析了品牌经理对nWOM发生的反应策略。在这里，我们表明，有没有一般的上级战略，但在DSM中处理消费者批评的有效性取决于管理的反应和用户的目标的调性，从而使反应策略的上下文相关的更好的选择。第三步是解决社交媒体风暴现象。我们的实验表明，火灾参与者的数量和他们表达的愤怒增加，特别是如果火灾的原因涉及道德失败，这反过来又增加了火灾参与的社会适当性的看法，以及与其他参与者共享相似性的看法。这场风暴的原因也是解释社交媒体风暴对消费者和品牌影响的核心驱动力。我们使用一种独特的主要和次要数据的组合，展示了风暴的强度，它的生动性和原因解释了哪些风暴会对品牌认知产生负面影响，哪些风暴甚至在发生多年后仍被记住-哪些风暴会被遗忘。在即将到来的B1项目中，我们希望利用这些知识在DSM中的火风暴调查的相关现象的“新产品嗡嗡声”（NPB）。我们将NPB定义为消费者行为的集合，这些行为表达了对新产品的预期，并且可以被其他人观察到。这种消费者运动，这也是集体和动态的性质，是-相反，火灾-的特点是前瞻性的预期，因此通常是固有的积极的性质。在B1的第二个资助阶段，我们首先要为NPB结构引入一种基于理论的测量方法。在此基础上，调查NPB对个人消费者的心理影响将是非常有趣的-NPB为消费者提供了什么样的价值，是什么使NPB具有影响力？这种影响如何随着时间的推移而演变-是否有饱和点，是否有“太多”的NPB？最后，我们想分析NPB的经济后果，并确定其驱动因素。预期的研究结果将为学者和从业者涵盖NPB的相关方面，并为NPB及其管理的进一步研究提供重要启示。

In the first funding phase of B1, with a total of six academic papers, we arrived at an encompassing understanding of the effect and management of negative word of mouth (nWOM) in general and social media firestorms in particular. In the first step, we i. a. experimentally showed that nWOM –contrary to pWOM—is valued in functional brand communities, but triggers negative reactions in socially-oriented brand communities in DSM. In a second step, we analyzed reaction strategies to the occurrence of nWOM of brand managers. Here we showed that there is no generally superior strategy, but that the effectiveness of handling consumer criticism in DSM depends on the tonality of the management’s response and the goals of the users, thus making the preferable choice of reaction strategy context-dependent. The third step addressed the social media firestorm phenomenon. We showed experimentally, that the number of firestorm participants and their expressed outrage increases particularly if the reason of the firestorm involves a moral failure which, in turn, increases the perception that firestorm participation is socially appropriate as well as the perception of shared similarity with other participants. The firestorm reason is also a central driver for explaining the effects of social media firestorms on consumers and brands. Using a unique combination of primary and secondary data, we showed that the strength of the firestorm, its vividness, and its reason explain which firestorms affect brand perceptions negatively and which firestorms are remembered even years after their occurrence – and which are forgotten sooner rather than later.In the upcoming project of B1, we want to use this gained knowledge on firestorms in DSM to investigate the related phenomenon of “new product buzz” (NPB). We define NPB as the aggregation of consumer behaviors that express anticipation for a new product and are observable by others. This consumer movement, which is also collective and dynamic in nature, is –in contrast to firestorms—characterized by forward-looking anticipation and is thus typically inherently positive in nature. In the second funding phase of B1, we first want to introduce a theory-based measurement approach for the NPB construct. Building on that, it will be very interesting to investigate the psychological effect of NPB on the individual consumer – what kind of value does NPB provide to consumers, what makes NPB impactful? How does this impact evolve over time – are there satiation points, can there a “too much” of NPB? Finally, we want to analyze the economic consequences of NPB and identify its drivers. The expected findings shall cover the relevant aspects of NPB for scholars and practitioners and provide important implications for further research on NPB as well as its management.