Understanding the Drivers and Outcomes of Ideologically Charged Social Media Firestorms: The Sociotechnical and Social Learning Perspectives
基于社会技术与社会学习视角，研究意识形态驱动的社交媒体风暴中，信息说服力、平台内容中心性等因素如何影响负面口碑学习及后续购买行为，对管理数字危机有实践启示。
Social media firestorms, characterized by the rapid spread of negative electronic word of mouth (eWOM), can ignite widespread criticism of a firm’s brand transgressions, service failures, product-harm crises, or ideological conflicts. This study, grounded in the sociotechnical and social learning perspectives, examines the drivers and outcomes of social learning in ideologically charged firestorms, which represent an emerging form. We investigate the effects of social consensus and message persuasiveness, platform content centricity, and individual–firm relationship closeness on the social learning of negative eWOM behavior and purchase behavior. Two studies, comprising longitudinal quantitative and qualitative surveys, were conducted. The results indicate that message persuasiveness is strongly associated with the social learning of negative eWOM behavior. Negative eWOM behavior subsequently influences post-firestorm purchasing behavior. The moderating effects of platform content centricity and individual–firm relationship closeness are discussed. These findings advance the literature and offer practitioners actionable insights into managing digital crises.