Semester of Graduation
Spring 2026
Degree Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Degree Name
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (PH.D.)
Department
Coles College of Business
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. Patrick Fennell
Second Advisor
Dr. Pramod Iyer
Third Advisor
Dr. Laura Boman
Abstract
Online customer reviews (OCR) have long served as tools for evaluating product and service quality, but recent evidence suggests they are increasingly used as a means of consumer activism. The present study introduces the concept of review activism as a novel construct and develops a measure of its positive dimension, capturing the prosocial and advocacy-oriented motivations through which consumers mobilize reviews in support of businesses. Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) Model, we investigate how minority ownership identity signals embedded in review solicitation messages (S) can activate states of empathy and impression management (O) and influence review activism (R). Across two scenario-based experiments, findings indicate that the signal’s influence on review activism operated primarily through empathy rather than impression management. Critically, this effect was highly conditional: perceived minority hardship moderated the empathy pathway, amplifying prosocial review motivation among consumers sensitive to minority hardships while reversing it among those who are not. Contrary to what was predicted, the review visibility context did not amplify impression management concerns; instead, anonymous conditions produced more favorable outcomes for minority-owned businesses. The present findings reconcile conflicting evidence in the emerging identity signaling literature, identifying the psychological processes and boundary conditions that determine both the magnitude and the direction of the signal’s effects. More broadly, this research advances our understanding of OCR antecedents, consumer activism, and identity-based marketing appeals, while offering practical guidance for minority-owned businesses, implications for review platform design, and directions for future research in this timely domain.
Included in
Advertising and Promotion Management Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons
Comments
I would like to request a 5-year embargo, instead of 3.
Revision Note: One issue noted was the body text in several areas, but it is in my Style gallery and mapped to the correct sections. You have to scroll down, but it's there.