Impacts of sellers' responses to online negative consumer reviews: Evidence from an agricultural product

Sellers' responses to online negative consumer reviews (NCRs) have a marked effect on consumer purchasing intentions. In this study, we divide seller's responses to NCRs into two categories: rational responses and emotional responses. Through two separate studies, we examine the impact of sellers' responses to online NCRs on consumer purchasing intention. Results reveal that product-related NCRs reduce consumer purchasing intentions more than service-related NCRs and having no reaction to NCRs from the sellers decreases consumer purchasing intentions. In addition, consumer trust mediates the relationship between seller's response to online NCRs and consumer purchasing intentions. The results also show that the impact on consumer purchasing intentions can be modified by the type of NCRs and sellers' responses. In particular, rational responses will be more effective for product-related NCRs, and for service-related NCRs, there does not appear to exist a significant difference between the effects of rational and emotional responses.