From impression to expression: How warmth and competence in relaxing and challenging activities shape pleasure and eWOM

Su, Lujun; Wang, Xiushan; Lin, Zhibin; Xiao, Sarah

Abstract

This research investigates how aligning service providers’ warmth and competence with the nature of leisure activities (relaxing vs. challenging) influences pleasure and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) sharing. Through a series of five studies, including secondary data analysis (Study 1), scenario-based experiments (Studies 2a, 3, 4, and 5), and observation of actual eWOM behavior (Study 2b), we demonstrate that the alignment between service judgments and activity type (i.e., warmth in relaxing activities and competence in challenging activities) enhances positive eWOM sharing, with this effect being mediated by the pleasure derived from the service experience. Our findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of the cognitive and affective antecedents of eWOM. We extend the stereotype content model to the eWOM research, identifying activity type as a novel boundary condition. We recommend that managers tailor their impression management strategies to the type of activity offered. For relaxing activities, emphasize warmth-related attributes, while for challenging activities, highlight competence-related attributes—both approaches can enhance customer pleasure and encourage positive eWOM sharing.

Citation

Su, L., Wang, X., Lin, Z., & Xiao, S. (online). From impression to expression: How warmth and competence in relaxing and challenging activities shape pleasure and eWOM. Psychology and Marketing, https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22113

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 12, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Aug 30, 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 10, 2024
• Journal: Psychology and Marketing
• Print ISSN: 0742-6046
• Electronic ISSN: 1520-6793
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22113
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2852279