Negatively-valenced influencing behaviour : forms, triggers and impacts

This thesis was previously held under moratorium from 3rd October 2018 until 3rd October 2020.Influencing behaviour, as a form of Customer Engagement Behaviour (CEB), has the potential to impact other actors within a network and likewise the value and performance of firms in different ways, depending on its valence. However, despite its potentially detrimental effect, negatively-valenced influencing behaviour (NVIB) remains relatively poorly studied in terms of empirical work, specifically regarding its forms, triggers and impact. This thesis adopts mixed methods research, specifically, a sequential exploratory design so that the qualitative study provides findings that inform the quantitative study. The first study which is qualitative used netnography to explore how customers engage in NVIB and what triggers customers to engage in NVIB on review sites. The findings include six forms of NVIB classified as direct and indirect, based on the way customers use each form in their online reviews. The findings also contain five triggers of NVIB and indicate relationships between forms and triggers of NVIB.;The second study which is quantitative used three experiments to measure the impact of NVIB on other actors' attitude and behavioural intentions towards service providers using the forms conceptualised in the first study. The results from the three experiments showed the negative impact of NVIB on other actors' attitudes and behavioural intentions, with a relative strength of direct over indirect NVIB displayed. The thesis contributes to understanding NVIB by providing a typology of six distinct forms of NVIB and five triggers and also by showing that customers may directly or indirectly address other actors when engaging in NVIB; however, both direct and indirect forms of NVIB negatively impact other actors' attitudes and behavioural intentions. Finally, this thesis contributes to studies in this area with empirical results that show the impact of specific forms of NVIB on other actors' attitude and behavioural intentions towards service providers.Influencing behaviour, as a form of Customer Engagement Behaviour (CEB), has the potential to impact other actors within a network and likewise the value and performance of firms in different ways, depending on its valence. However, despite its potentially detrimental effect, negatively-valenced influencing behaviour (NVIB) remains relatively poorly studied in terms of empirical work, specifically regarding its forms, triggers and impact. This thesis adopts mixed methods research, specifically, a sequential exploratory design so that the qualitative study provides findings that inform the quantitative study. The first study which is qualitative used netnography to explore how customers engage in NVIB and what triggers customers to engage in NVIB on review sites. The findings include six forms of NVIB classified as direct and indirect, based on the way customers use each form in their online reviews. The findings also contain five triggers of NVIB and indicate relationships between forms and triggers of NVIB.;The second study which is quantitative used three experiments to measure the impact of NVIB on other actors' attitude and behavioural intentions towards service providers using the forms conceptualised in the first study. The results from the three experiments showed the negative impact of NVIB on other actors' attitudes and behavioural intentions, with a relative strength of direct over indirect NVIB displayed. The thesis contributes to understanding NVIB by providing a typology of six distinct forms of NVIB and five triggers and also by showing that customers may directly or indirectly address other actors when engaging in NVIB; however, both direct and indirect forms of NVIB negatively impact other actors' attitudes and behavioural intentions. Finally, this thesis contributes to studies in this area with empirical results that show the impact of specific forms of NVIB on other actors' attitude and behavioural intentions towards service providers