Service failures in times of crisis: An analysis of eWOM emotionality.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt consumer experiences as well as service operations. Despite the magnitude of this exogenous shock, little is known about the pandemic's impact on consumers. Building on engagement theory, this study examines consumers' emotional responses to service failures on social media. Contributing to the brand equity literature, we test whether electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) emotionality is contingent on brand strength. To do so, we analyzed 327,205 tweets directed at airline brands over the first 12 months of the pandemic in addition to data from a nonaffected period. The models show that consumers' overall emotionality in tweets was lower during the pandemic than before it. Over the course of the pandemic, levels of joy were lower while levels of sadness and anger were more prominent in tweets directed at weaker brands. Thus, brand strength still acts as a "buffer" if service failures are caused by exogenous shocks.

Service failures in times of crisis: An analysis of eWOM emotionality

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt consumer experiences as well as service operations. Despite the magnitude of this exogenous shock, little is known about the pandemic’s impact on consumers. Building on engagement theory, this study examines consumers’ emotional responses to service failures on social media. Contributing to the brand equity literature, we test whether electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) emotionality is contingent on brand strength. To do so, we analyzed 327,205 tweets directed at airline brands over the first 12 months of the pandemic in addition to data from a nonaffected period. The models show that consumers’ overall emotionality in tweets was lower during the pandemic than before it. Over the course of the pandemic, levels of joy were lower while levels of sadness and anger were more prominent in tweets directed at weaker brands. Thus, brand strength still acts as a “buffer” if service failures are caused by exogenous shocks.

Corporate sponsorship for museums in times of crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic causes museums to seek financial aid from corporate sponsors. However, corporate sponsorship may have negative consequences for museums in terms of their authenticity. In this study, we therefore examine whether the extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 crisis change tourists' perceptions of corporate sponsorship. Indeed, we find that tourists react more positively to corporate sponsorship if the health crisis is salient. Moreover, we show that corporate sponsorship by multiple smaller- and medium-sized companies generates more positive outcomes for museums than the effort of a single large company, in terms of perceived authenticity loss, visiting intentions, and willingness to pay.