Summary: Managing Social Media Crises With Your Customers: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. ...

Read the summary and the most important questions on Managing social media crises with your customers: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Business Horizons, 58(2), 173-182.

• 1 Revenge via social media

• What is the text of Gregoire et al. (2015) about?

  The text talks about how unhappy customers use social media to complain about companies, which can sometimes cause big problems for the business. It also gives advice to businesses on how to manage these complaints in different situations to avoid crises.

• 2 The six types of social media complaints

• 2.3 Badmouthing: Negative word-ofmouth without contacting the firm

• Describe what "Badmouthing" entails in the context of social media complaints.

  Answer: Badmouthing refers to customers spreading negative word-of-mouth across their social networks without contacting the company first, sharing bad experiences efficiently and reaching a wide audience.

• What is an example of a situation involving "Badmouthing"?

  A British Airways customer purchased a promoted tweet to complain about his lost luggage, stating “Don’t fly @BritishAirways.” Without contacting the company first, his tweet was seen by over 25,000 people in 6 hours.

• 2.4 Tattling: Complaining to a third party for help

• Explain "Tattling" and how it works as a form of complaint.

  Tattling involves complaining to a third party, like online organizations or agencies (e.g., Better Business Bureau), for assistance in resolving a dispute with a company, sometimes exposing the company's misbehavior online.

• 2.5 Spite: Spreading negative publicity to get revenge

• What does "Spite" involve in terms of social media complaints?

  Spite involves customers spreading negative publicity with the intention of revenge, using attention-grabbing and widely spreadable content, such as viral videos, aiming to tarnish a company’s reputation after a double deviation (service failure + failed recovery).

• 2.6 Feeding the vultures: How competitors take advantage of your SM disaster

• Describe the "Feeding the Vultures" type of social media complaint.

  Feeding the vultures occurs when a competitor takes advantage of a company’s social media crisis, utilizing it to amplify the mistake and draw customers away from the original company.

• 3 How to manage the six SM complaints

• 3.1 Recommendations for handling directness

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• Provide an example where a company effectively handled a direct complaint.

  American Airlines efficiently helped the Silberberg family, who were about to miss a connection, by promptly sharing the gate number for their next flight via Twitter. This public response showcased their quick and effective customer service.

• 3.2 Recommendations for handling boasting

• What should companies do to leverage positive publicity from "Boasting" type complaints?

  Companies should share the positive stories via their own social media and thank the customer but avoid overpublicizing it. Letting the online community naturally share the story is key to maintaining authenticity and ensuring the publicity doesn’t appear orchestrated.

• Share an example of a company benefiting from a "Boasting" situation.

  Ritz-Carlton resorts gained notable publicity when they went above and beyond to make a child's left-behind stuffed giraffe, Joshie, have a "vacation" at their resort, complete with photos of its adventures. The story was shared by the child's father, a CEO and blogger, becoming viral and creating highly positive PR for Ritz-Carlton.

• 3.3 Recommendations for handling badmouthing

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• What approach should companies take to manage "Badmouthing" complaints?

  Companies should use monitoring systems to identify badmouthing quickly. Publicly acknowledging the issue and inviting the customer to discuss privately is key. After resolving the issue, firms should share the outcome on social media, while being mindful to remain respectful and professional, even if the customer does not.