{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T09:07:47Z","timestamp":1779959267921,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,26]],"date-time":"2026-05-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779753600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Hunan Provincial Philosophy and Social Science Planning Fund Project of China","award":["23JD039"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["23JD039"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JTAER"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In interactive digital commerce environments, negative electronic word-of-mouth (NeWOM)\u2014particularly negative online reviews\u2014profoundly shapes consumer perceptions and brand relationships. Yet, the underlying mechanisms through which NeWOM influences consumer conformity behavior remain underexplored from a qualitative, process-oriented perspective. This study adopts a grounded theory approach to analyze 1405 authentic negative smartphone reviews from a leading Chinese e-commerce platform. Through systematic open, axial, and selective coding, we develop a processual model that reveals how NeWOM triggers two interconnected yet distinct psychological mechanisms: the formation of generalized negative brand schema, driven by service\/product failures and the internalization of psychological expectations, driven by unmet brand expectations and poor service attitudes. These mechanisms jointly shape consumer conformity behavior\u2014the tendency to align one\u2019s judgments and actions with perceived peer consensus reflected in negative reviews. Importantly, enterprises\u2019 responsive improvements based on negative feedback operate as a feedback loop that can sustain or restore consumer\u2013brand congruence. By reconceptualizing NeWOM as a dynamic, dialogic trigger within interactive marketing systems, this study extends electronic commerce theory and provides context-sensitive insight into how consumer conformity emerges and evolves in digital marketplaces.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jtaer21060163","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,26]],"date-time":"2026-05-26T11:02:51Z","timestamp":1779793371000},"page":"163","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["How Negative Online Reviews Shape Consumer Conformity: Psychological Mechanisms in Interactive Digital Marketing"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-1671-9608","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ying","family":"Tan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100098, China"},{"name":"School of Economics and Trade, Hunan Technology and Business University, Changsha 410205, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunqi","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100098, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7988-4053","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yong","family":"Geng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100098, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shubo","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100098, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongtao","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Trade, Hunan Technology and Business University, Changsha 410205, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rodrigues, F., Oliveira, T., and Lopes, E. 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