The Impact of Online Word-of-mouth and Negative Media Exposure on Consumer Habitual Skepticism: The Mediating Effect of Attribution

How did habitual skepticism come into being? In this research,the causes of consumer habitual skepticism are explored from the perspective of attribution. We put forward two important antecedent variables, negative online word-of-mouth and negative media exposure. The study results show that the higher the negative word-of-mouth perception is, the higher the stability and controllability of consumer attribution will be, and the higher the degree of consumer habitual skepticism will be. The higher the intensity of negative media exposure is, the higher the stability and controllability of consumer attribution will be, and the higher the degree of consumer habitual skepticism will be. We test this framework through two experiments. Study 1 investigates the influence of negative word-of-mouth spread and media exposure on consumer habitual skepticism. Study 2 investigates the effect of two independent variables on consumer habitual skepticism from an overall point of view and explore the mediation effect of attribution.