The Internet has become a hospitable environment for people looking to advance aggressive forms of criticism against corporations. The same social media technologies that strengthen your company’s relationship with consumers also make is easy for a single critic to mount an aggressive campaign against you. This whitepaper will present new research that reveals what drives this type of aggressive behavior.
WHITE PAPER: EXECUTIVE VERSION
An Analysis of Aggressive Online Behavior
Targeted Against Corporations, their
Products, Services, and Brands
Urs GasserJohn G. Palfrey, Jr.
May 2007
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.AGGRESSIVE ONLINE BEHAVIOR GASSER | PALFREY
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................2
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................4
2 Three Types of Online Behavior Targeted at Corporations and Other Institutions.........5
2.1 Collaborative Behavior.............................................................................................6Minolta, Sony - D7Userforum.deMicrosoft - IE7 Feedback
2.2 Socially Constructive Behavior..................................................................................6Victoria's Secret - Activist CriticismAbsolut/Adbusters - Spoof AdsUnix Haters - Flaming Mailing ListCoca Cola - Killercoke.org CampaignNorthwest Airlines - Employee Sickout CampaignApple Inc. - iDont.comMicrosoft/van Wensveen - Gripe SiteLucasnursery - Gripe SiteMcDonald's - McInformation NetworkStarbucks - Gripe SiteTaubman Co. - taubmansucks.com
2.3 Aggressive, Destructive Behavior ..............................................................................9
3 Conclusions and Recommendations.......................................................................12
Methodology...............................................................................................................14
About the Authors.......................................................................................................15
About the Sponsors.....................................................................................................16
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................16
Appendices.................................................................................................................17
1AGGRESSIVE ONLINE BEHAVIOR GASSER | PALFREY
Executive Summary
The Internet is especially hospitable to those who wish to advance aggressive forms of criticismagainst corporations and other institutions and who do so in loose collaboration with others,often whom they do not know.
This behavior falls along a continuum of online behavior of three types: (1) collaborative; (2)socially constructive criticism intended as public policy reform; and (3) aggressive, destructivebehavior. Each of these types of aggressive behaviors is intended to achieve distinct objectives; isdriven by different motivations; and involves the use of different media in the effort to achievethese ends.
1. Collaborative behaviorOften started by product users, brand advocates, beta product testers, etc., this type of behavioris distinguished by its goal of seeking a truly positive outcome for the company and product.
. Objective: to improve a product or service through relevant, honest, timely feedback.. Motivation: to have an impact by making oneself heard and to improve product quality.. Media Applications: any convenient online vehicle provided by the corporation perceivedto be likely to have someone reading it; blogs and product-speci?c message boards.
2. Socially constructive behaviorUsually started by activists, non-pro?t organizations, or disgruntled consumers, this type ofbehavior is often rooted in social, political, or economic issues that the organizer(s) deeply careabout. Companies that listen, evaluate, and respond appropriately to the criticisms and sug-gestions can prevent these situations from escalating and may even turn them to a bene?t.
. Objective: to prompt change on the part of a corporation(s) for perceived public bene?t.. Motivation: to improve society, regardless of negative impact on individual corporations.. Media Applications: applications with viral potential, including blogs, podcasts, videos,and other media that can be shared and syndicated easily; and sites with message boards.
3. Aggressive, destructive behaviorThis is the most negative, insidious type of behavior, often employing the most extreme anddis... [download for more]
