This research documents how negative reviews, when perceived as unfair, can activate feelings of empathy toward firms that have been wronged. Six studies and four supplemental experiments provide converging evidence that this experienced empathy for the firm motivates supportive consumer responses such as paying higher purchase prices and reporting increased patronage intentions. Importantly, this research highlights factors that can increase or decrease empathy toward a firm. For instance, adopting the reviewer’s perspective when evaluating an unfair negative review can reduce positive consumer responses to a firm, while conditions that enhance the ability to experience empathy—such as when reviews are highly unfair, when the identity of the employee is made salient, or when the firm responds in an empathetic manner—can result in positive consumer responses toward the firm. Overall, this work extends the understanding of consumers’ responses to word-of-mouth in the marketplace by highlighting the role of perceived (un)fairness. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings for better management of consumer reviews.

1. When Unfair Negative
Reviews are Beneficial
Harness the power of empathy
From: Allard, Dunn, and White 2020

2. Negative Reviews Carry Weight
• Negative reviews are more influential than positive reviews
because they are perceived as more diagnostic.
• Negative reviews typically lead to negative outcomes for the
reviewed brands.
• But, not all negative reviews are the same…
From Allard, Dunn, and White 2020

3. From Allard, Dunn, and White 2020
“Unfair” Negative Reviews are reviews where the intensity of the
review is not deserved or justified given the actions of the firm,
location, or brand.

4. Unfair Negative Reviews Can Lead to Positive
Outcomes
Unfair Negative
Reviews
Empathy
Positive Outcomes
(e.g., purchase,
patronage)
From: Allard, Dunn, and White 2020

5. Increasing Empathy Improves Consumer Response
• If unfair negative reviews naturally elicit empathy, can empathy
be harnessed to increase consumer responses to reviews that
do not naturally evoke empathy?
• This paper suggests that managers can increase empathy by:
- Responding to reviews with Personalized Responses
- Building empathy-evoking marketing materials
From Allard, Dunn, and White 2020

6. Personalized Response
From Allard, Dunn, and White 2020
• Finding: Using a personalized response,
led to a lift in purchase intentions for fair
negative reviews and positive reviews.
• Takeaway: Personalized responses led to
increased empathetic responses from
reviews that do not naturally evoke
empathy – fair negative and positive –
which ultimately increased purchase
intentions.

7. Examples of Empathy-Evoking Marketing
Interventions
From Allard, Dunn, and White 2020
Los Angeles Apparels Lush Cosmetics McDonald’s USA

8. Take-Aways
1) Unfair Negative Reviews can be positive for firms!
2) Increased empathy underlies this positive effect.
3) Our recommendation: Embrace the unfair reviews, engage
with consumers in a way that increases empathy, and use
marketing materials to increase empathy among consumers.
From Allard, Dunn, and White 2020