Experiencing motivational conflict on social media in a crisis situation: The case of the Chick-fil-A same-sex marriage controversy. (June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kim, Kyongseok; Kim, Jooyoung; Reid, Leonard N.
• Is Part Of: Computers in human behavior. Volume 71(2017)
• Page Start: 32
• Page End: 41
• Publication Date: 2017-06
• Subjects: Motivational conflict -- Social media -- Defense motivation -- Impression motivation -- Heuristic-systematic model -- Brand crisis; Interactive computer systems -- Periodicals; Man-machine systems -- Periodicals; 004.019
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.01.035
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0747-5632

Abstract

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between motivational conflict involving social media use and attitude formation in a brand crisis situation. An online experiment was conducted with 658 participants using a 2 (news-article valence: positive vs. negative) × 2 (situational cue valence: positive vs. negative) between-subjects design. During the experiment, participants loyal to Chick-fil-A (defense-motivated) were asked to communicate the brand through the brand's social networking sites (SNSs) while receiving a cue for the SNS audience's general unfavorable opinions on the crisis issue, the Chick-fil-A same-sex marriage controversy (impression-motivated). It was found that when motivational conflict was experienced (defense vs. impression), (1) individuals' brand attitudes were affected more by objective information such as a news article than by a cue for audience opinion and (2) their positive brand-related cognitions were countervailed by their impression-related cognitions. Overall, the findings suggest that it is not always desirable for a company to encourage customers to engage in SNS-facilitated interaction in a crisis situation. Highlights: SNS users can experience a motivational conflict in a brand crisis situation. Users experiencing a conflict form brand attitudes based on objective information. Their positive brand-related cognitions are offset by impression-related cognitions.