Asymmetric conformity to positive and negative word-of-mouth

The ubiquity of online ratings has facilitated word-of-mouth (WOM) transmission but researchers have yet to fully understand whether and how WOM valence interacts with reviewers' initial judgment to affect their manifested product evaluation. This paper aims to show that positive and negative WOM rating asymmetrically (vs. symmetrically) influences evaluation convergence, an automatic process to reconcile inconsistency between WOM valence and reviewers' initial judgment. We expect to show that the convergence towards WOM is subject to motivations of social conforming and uniqueness seeking, two conflicting goals which are moderated by WOM valence. Negative (vs. positive) WOM from in-group reviewers activates conforming (vs. uniqueness) motivation and enlarges (vs. lessens) evaluation convergence. Our initial study finds that this asymmetric conformity to positive and negative WOM does not apply to WOM from out-group reviewers. This paper aims to provide insight on differentiating the management of social (vs. non-social) rating platforms.