Awhile back, in my social media marketing class at UCLA, we had a discussion on the power of recommendation, influence, and user reviews. It's a very good topic -- the Yelp generation relies almost totally on what their peers say -- good and bad.
Businesses seem to be more worried about negative comments from users and customers and we had a very robust conversation in class about what to do when the negative comment or review comes your way. Some companies look at negative comments as an opportunity to 'win over' the customer, some become apologetic, and some ignore all together.
I made the comment that "Haterz gonna hate" and the class laughed. Well, it turns out that's a true statement. A new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology proves that some people will never be satisfied and they gain joy from hating -- in fact, that have to hate.
The study concludes, for example, that a person with a negative disposition might read reviews before watching a movie, focus only on negative reviews, and end up not enjoying the movie either because they were influenced by the negative reviews or simply see themselves as contrary people.
The study also found that people with more positive dispositional attitudes are more likely to embrace life in the form of buying new products, taking care of their health and following regular, positive actions like driving the speed limit or being kind to others.
We'll be reviewing the study as it relates to marketing and branding in class. What do you think?
Beverly Macy is the Host of Social Media Radio and the author of The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing. She teaches at the UCLA Extension. eMail: beverlymacy@gmail.com