Exploring the link between management communication and emotions in mergers and acquisitions

News on merger and acquisition (M&A) activities frequently dominate the popular business press. While the announcement of an M&A usually elicits enthusiasm in the business community, it also results in increased levels of uncertainty, stress, and anxiety for employees. Based on a qualitative analysis of four international M&A cases, this paper integrates emotions and communication during mergers and acquisitions in a conceptual framework. We argue that management communication and information flows during all stages of an M&A process represent affective events, which in a cognitive appraisal process trigger positive and negative emotions. These in turn may influence employee attitudes, behaviour, and performance, and ultimately also M&A success. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Affective Effects of Offering Options on Persuasiveness of Fear Appeals

Research on fear level and options available for consumers to reduce their level of threat was undertaken to determine what effect these variables have on attitudes, purchase intentions, and emotions besides fear. Using an experimental design, it was found that higher levels of fear induce elevated levels of anger and disgust. There was also a positive correlation between fear and positive attitudes and purchase intention, but only in cases where more options were offered. This suggests that if advertisers want to induce a high level of fear in audiences, offering multiple options to reduce fear can lead to more positive attitudes and purchase intention.     

Consumer responses to corporate social irresponsibility: The role of moral emotions,evaluations, and social cognitions

We investigate the mediating roles of moral emotions and attitudes between perceptions of corporate irresponsible actions, on the one hand, and consumer responses, on the other hand, and further examine their contingencies based on consumer social cognitions. Our findings show that, for corporate transgressions, multiple social cognitions (moral identity, relational and collective self‐concepts, and affective empathy) moderate the elicitation of negative moral emotions (contempt and anger) and overall evaluations (attitudes), which, in turn, lead to negative responses toward the company (negative word of mouth, complaint behaviors, and boycotting). Our study adds to extant research on corporate social irresponsibility by examining three generic reactions people have toward corporate social irresponsibility and demonstrating important boundary conditions. In addition, hypotheses are tested on a sample of adult consumers. Implications for communication by firms are considered.     

消费者情绪对总体满意度的影响

本文认为,消费者满意度不仅包含认知成分,而且包含情绪成分,没有情绪维度就不能完全解释消费者的行为反应。在现代服务营销理论研究中,消费者情绪特别是惊喜情绪对满意度的影响越来越受到学者的关注,而在企业服务营销实践中,使消费者惊喜已经成为越来越多成功公司的战略决策。本文通过真实服务环境中的实验研究探讨了消费者情绪对总体满意度的影响,结果显示:在本实验条件下,被试者的愉快、惊讶、兴趣三种基本情绪均被启动;当积极的惊讶情绪(惊喜)启动时,被试者的总体满意度显著提高;当仅仅只有单纯的惊讶情绪启动时,被试者的总体满意度并没有显著提高。     

The effect of information presentation modes on tourists’ responses in Internet marketing: the moderating role of emotions

In order to enhance our understanding of the effectiveness of information transmission through virtual reality (VR), this study used a modified stimulus–organism–response framework to examine the relationships between information presentation modes (VR versus picture), emotions (pleasure and arousal), and tourists’ responses, namely attention, interest, desire, and action (AIDA) in the context of Internet tourism marketing. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) were employed to analyze data gathered from 184 respondents participating in a factorial experimental design. The results indicated that compared with the picture mode, the VR mode had superior effects on tourists’ responses, but these superior effects were moderated by arousal. High-arousal tourists had stronger AIDA responses in the VR mode than in the picture mode. However, the stronger effects of the VR mode on tourists’ AIDA responses disappeared in the low-arousal group. The findings of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications for Internet tourism marketing.     

Communicating Tourism Supplier Services:

This paper views three marketing communications elements as critical in building and retaining repeat visitors: external, internal and word-of-mouth messages. The paper provides a conceptual model that links these communication elements to the phenomenon of repeat travel purchase behavior. The authors emphasize the importance of repeat customers to tourism services and explore why and how each type of marketing communication has an impact on these visitors. Finally the paper suggests ways tourism supplier services can attempt to strategically manage these functions.     

Fostering creative selling through ethics. An emotion-based approach

Research on salesperson creativity remains as one of the most under-researched topics in the sales literature despite the evidence that encouraging creativity in the sales domain is a source of competitive advantage. This paper aims to fill this research gap by exploring the influence of perceived ethical climate on salesperson creative performance, paying special attention to the role that emotions play in this process. Data provided by 176 supervisor–salesperson dyads confirm that the trust/responsibility dimension of an ethical climate is positively related to salesperson creative selling by increasing salespeople's organizational pride. Similarly, the perception of unethical selling practices negatively affects salesperson organizational pride, reducing the expression of creative behaviors. Moreover, the negative effect of unethical selling practices on creative performance is stronger (more negative) when salespeople's identification with an organization increases. Managerial implications and future research directions are also addressed.     

管理者情绪、国资介入与创新绩效

近年来，越来越多的国有企业通过出资入股的方式嵌入民营企业的改制与治理中，使得广大民营企业拥有更有效的治理措施与融资方式。但在混改对民营企业创新绩效影响的研究中，这种促进效果是否明显仍具有较大争议。从管理者理性迎合的角度出发，以2010—2020年所有上市非ST公司的相关数据为采集样本，通过情绪词典中的情绪词汇与公司年报中相同词语的出现频次来构建管理者情绪指标，以此为基准测定管理者情绪对上市公司创新绩效的影响，并探讨国资介入在两者之间的交互调节效应。实证发现：管理者情绪与企业创新绩效表现为负向相关；国资介入与企业创新绩效表现为正向相关，且能够缓和管理者情绪对企业创新绩效的负向影响作用。     

Foreign company misconduct and how consumers’ punitive intent is influenced by country stereotypes and the perceived similarity between the foreign country and the home country

Using a previously untested similarity contingency model of country stereotypes, this study assesses the effects of country stereotypes, perceived country similarity, and their interplay on emotion-driven punitive intent toward foreign, wrongdoing companies. In Study 1, positive country stereotypes (warmth, competence) mitigate punitive intent by diminishing agonistic emotions (contempt, anger, and disgust). Study 2 demonstrates that perceived similarity with a wrongdoing company’s country of origin moderates the indirect effects of country stereotypes on emotion-driven punitive intent. Compensatory effects between country stereotypes and perceived country similarity emerge; with greater (lower) perceived country similarity, the indirect effects of country stereotypes on emotion-driven punitive intent are weaker (stronger). The results provide companies with relevant insights into (1) why consumers emotionally react as they do to wrongdoing companies of different nationalities and (2) how to counterbalance negative effects of company misconduct by harmonizing elements of countries’ warmth, competence, and perceived country similarity in branding and communication content.