Schadenfreude and Sympathy: Observer Reactions to Malicious Joy During Social Media Service Recovery.

This article investigates the dynamics of customer-to-customer (C2C) schadenfreude—malicious joy at another's misfortune—expressed on firms' social media channels during service recovery, focusing on how observers perceive and emotionally respond to such interactions. Through three studies involving content analysis and experiments, the research finds that observers experience sympathy for the targeted complainer when schadenfreude is expressed, particularly when the malicious comments come from personas perceived as loyal customers rather than internet trolls. This sympathy negatively influences observers' purchase intent, but the harmful effect can be mitigated if the firm publicly denounces the schadenfreude comments; ignoring or agreeing with such comments exacerbates the negative impact. The study applies backlash theory to marketing by showing that loyal customers' counterstereotypical incivility produces a backlash effect among observers, highlighting complex social and managerial challenges in moderating online brand communities.