LAUSR

Abstract Because of its audience and ease of use, the Internet is a particularly powerful tool for spreading the vindictive messages of highly unsatisfied customers who wish to harm companies' reputations. This article aims to identify the determinants of bystanders' approval of an online vindictive message and to assess the impact of this approval on their intention to forward the message to other Internet users. We conduct three studies to show that 1) bystanders' approval of the vindictive message explains their intention to forward it, 2) the approval of the message is related neither to the balance between the initial harm suffered by the avenging consumer and the consequences of his/her revenge on the company, nor to the presence of apologies from the company; rather it is related to bystander consumers' empathy with the avenger and their attribution of blame to the company as well as their previous purchasing experience.