Zhang Xu, Zhu Hong, Hwang Yu, Xiao Chuqu
Business School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Business Administration School, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan, China.
Front Psychol. 2022 Apr 4;13:830002. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.830002. eCollection 2022.
Brand rumors can harm brands' image and bring significant impacts on customers' decision-making and sharing behavior. Finding practical strategies for preventing the spread of brand rumors continues to be a challenge. Building on the social contagion theory, the current research enriches the discussion on understanding why people spread rumors and how to deal with the spreading of rumors. Sharing brand rumors is motivated by a variety of complex psychological reasons, but prior research didn't adequately analyze the problem from a complexity perspective. Therefore, using a sample of 416 interviewers within eight types of brand rumors, this study employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to investigate the combination of rumor psychological communication motivations in brand activities and solutions to prevent the spread of brand rumors. The current study discoveries three and two first-level configurational solutions, respectively, that can promote positive and negative rumor spreading. To summarize, emotional stimulation is a key component in the spread of rumors; altruism and relationship management motivation can coexist at times; and untrusted rumors are disseminated through other motivation factors. Solutions to prevent rumors from spreading are also provided. Furthermore, the findings help to understand the psychology of configurational motivation and how it can help brands reduce the spread of brand rumors. Finally, these discoveries' theoretical contributions and practical implications are presented.
品牌谣言会损害品牌形象，并对消费者的决策和分享行为产生重大影响。寻找预防品牌谣言传播的实用策略仍然是一项挑战。基于社会传染理论，当前的研究丰富了关于人们为何传播谣言以及如何应对谣言传播的讨论。分享品牌谣言是由多种复杂的心理原因驱动的，但先前的研究并未从复杂性角度充分分析这一问题。因此，本研究以416名受访者为样本，涵盖八种品牌谣言类型，采用模糊集定性比较分析（fsQCA）来探究品牌活动中谣言心理传播动机的组合以及预防品牌谣言传播的解决方案。当前研究分别发现了三种和两种一级构型解决方案，它们能够促进正面和负面谣言的传播。总而言之，情感刺激是谣言传播的关键因素；利他主义和关系管理动机有时可能并存；不可信的谣言通过其他动机因素得以传播。本研究还提供了预防谣言传播的解决方案。此外，这些发现有助于理解构型动机的心理机制，以及它如何帮助品牌减少品牌谣言的传播。最后，本研究呈现了这些发现的理论贡献和实际意义。
