Internal audience strikes back from the outside: emotionally exhausted employees’ negative word-of-mouth as the active brand-oriented deviance

Abstract

Purpose Reflecting on the importance of negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) executed by internal audience of brand management, this study aims to explore the mechanism of employees’ NWOM in the emotional exhaustion context. Design/methodology/approach Focusing on employees’ active brand-oriented deviances, this study used a surveyed data set (n = 150) collected from negatively aroused employees experiencing a negative event within their organization. Structural equation modeling was adopted to test the hypotheses. Findings The current study revealed that employees’ NWOM is associated with emotional exhaustion. Also, it discovered that emotional exhaustion is more strongly associated with employees’ NWOM than turnover intention. Research limitations/implications Relying on self-regulation theory, the current study identified emotional exhaustion as a critical antecedent of employees’ NWOM. Future researchers can use the longitudinal research design or temporal separation as an effort to prevent common method variance. Practical implications Internal audiences engage in negative brand-oriented performance by spreading NWOM. Further, the advance in social media may instigate NWOM spread by internal audiences to external audiences. Originality/value This paper tests the explanatory power of conservation of resources theory and self-regulatory theory in terms of the impact of employees’ emotional exhaustion on NWOM and turnover intention.