The power of negative brand messages: a case of angry customers in an online forum

Abstract

This paper reports an empirical study exploring consumer anger during a period of service failure and recovery, specifically the contributions and interactions of consumers in an online forum. Netnography (an ethnography on the Internet) is used to observe the naturally occurring interactions between consumers and the organisation within an online forum-based website. A case study is developed using strategic narratives to identify the processes of the development of the Vodafone brand in Australia during a 12-month period in 2010 and 2011. It brings together, and provides implications for, the consumer behaviour and service failure literature in exploring consumer anger and in an online environment.