Information credibility and organizational feedback: a solution to plethora of customer advocacy, brand avoidance and community usefulness

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of consumer advocacy on community usefulness and brand avoidance. Moreover, the study scrutinizes the mediating role and impact of organizational feedback/response and moderating role of information credibility. Design/methodology/approach The explanatory and cross-sectional research design was used in the study. Primary data were collected from broadband internet users and 249 responses gathered across the country. The study sample comprises of individuals sharing unfavorable service experiences on social media. Findings The key findings of the study highlight that consumer advocacy is a type of complaining method, which is used to help other society members; hence, there is a strong relationship among consumer’s advocacy and society’s usefulness. Brand avoidance is the outcome of stronger reactions by consumer advocates and through efficient organizational feedback, the impact of advocacy can be mitigated. Moreover, the study found that effective organizational explanations can be a useful remedy to brand avoidance. Furthermore, the research revealed that information credibility does not moderate the relationship between consumer advocacy and brand avoidance. Practical implications The study findings will help practitioners in determining effective strategies to restrict and control brand avoidance. Originality/value The social side of consumer argumentative behavior is still an under-research area, which is addressed in the paper. This is the unique study, which explores the mediating impact of organizational feedback on consumer advocacy, brand avoidance and usefulness for society in the implicit perspective.