Does ethics matter in spreading negative word-of-mouth on social networking sites? A cross-cultural study

Drawing on marketing ethics literature, this paper explores the effects of cultural factors on the intention to spread negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) on social networking sites (SNS) via ethical evaluations. In addition, this study examines how fear of negative evaluation moderates the relationship between ethical judgment and NWOM intention on SNS.

To serve the research purpose, two online surveys were conducted to collect cross-cultural data from respondents in India and Vietnam. Structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 4.0 was employed to analyze data.

The results revealed that ethical evaluations had a significant impact on the intention to spread NWOM on SNS via ethical judgments. Furthermore, cultural factors like belief in karma, uncertainty avoidance and self-construal were found to have significant impacts on ethical evaluations of NWOM on SNS. At the same time, fear of negative evaluation was found to weaken the influence of ethical judgments on the intention to spread NWOM on SNS.

This research uniquely contributes to marketing and ethics literature by examining NWOM on social media through an ethical decision-making framework that incorporates cultural and psychological factors.