Judging the Wrongness of Firms in Social Media Firestorms: The Heuristic and Systematic Information Processing Perspective

Research Area: Management - Operations and Management Science, Innovation & Healthcare (OMSIH)

 

Abstract: Social media firestorms are one of the biggest challenges facing firms in the digital era. Managing such firestorms is notoriously difficult because the judgments and responses from social media users are influenced by not only the nature of the transgressions but also different information in the social media environment that jointly shape their cognitive processing of such incidents. Drawing on the heuristic-systematic information processing model, we proposed a research model to explain the effects of the heuristic and systematic information processing modes on individual judgments and negative responses toward the concerning firms in social media firestorms. We tested our research model using three studies, a survey study, an experiment study, and a focus group study, for methodological triangulation. The empirical results corroborated our proposed research model, suggesting both heuristic and systematic information processing modes directly and interactively influence individual moral judgment and then negative responses toward the firms. Theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.