From impression to expression: How warmth and competence in relaxing and challenging activities shape pleasure and eWOM
研究了休闲活动类型（放松vs挑战）与服务提供者温暖和能力特质的匹配如何通过愉悦感影响电子口碑分享，为管理者提供印象管理策略。
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.