Technological Federal University of Paraná, Brazil
Negative evaluations affect organizations in different ways, and there is a consensus regarding the importance of strategic responses to them, especially in the digital era, when these evaluations can reach more people and faster. Although previous studies have analyzed organizational response strategies to negative evaluations, the current global context is deeply influenced by affective polarization, where individuals and groups harm partisan out-groups while defending those within partisan in-groups. Thus, researchers analyzed the influence of affective polarization on organizational strategies, but we observe a lack of research regarding how organizations respond to negative evaluations in a context of affective polarization. To fill this gap, we conducted a four-year qualitative study of Brazilian restaurants targeted by negative evaluations on Google’s rating system and Instagram due to their political stance. Our contributions to the literature on organizational strategies for responding to negative evaluations are three. First, we show how organizations can use affective polarization to foster group identification and address politically driven negative evaluations. Second, we introduce exposing negative evaluations by highlighting opposing partisans’ practices to reinforce political positioning and customer bonds. Third, we propose calling for support by mobilizing followers to provide positive ratings and sharing the strategy’s success on social media.
