隨著網際網路的普及化，線上論壇已成為消費者蒐集產品及服務資訊的重要媒介之一，而線上論壇抱怨文章往往是影響消費者購買行為之重要因素。尤其，網路抱怨文章中公司回應策略與負面口碑之研究在網路行為研究議題尚未被深入探討。因此，本研究以歸因理論為基礎，探討回應策略及失誤嚴重性是否會影響閱覽者對於失誤的歸因，並經由對服務失誤的歸因影響閱覽者對公司聲譽之評價及其未來散播負面口碑之意圖。本研究目的有二：(1)驗證回應策略及失誤嚴重性是否直接影響閱覽者的知覺服務失誤歸屬及可控制性；(2)驗證閱覽者知覺的服務失誤歸屬及可控制性與公司聲譽及負面口碑的關係。研究方法為2×2受試者間實驗設計，將受測者隨機分配至一個情境，操弄項目包括回應策略與失誤嚴重性，並在受測者閱讀情境後衡量其服務失誤歸屬、服務失誤可控制性、公司聲譽及負面口碑，共回收187份有效紙本問卷。資料分析結果顯示，回應策略及失誤嚴重性會直接影響閱覽者對於服務失誤的歸屬；閱覽者對於服務失誤的歸屬會負向影響對於公司聲譽的評價，同時也正向影響閱覽者投入負面口碑的意圖。主要研究發現包括：(1)除了回應策略，失誤嚴重性也是另一個影響閱覽者歸因的因素；(2)公司聲譽與負面口碑之間的負向關係得到驗證；(3)相較於服務失誤可控制性，服務失誤歸屬為閱覽者歸因整體事件之主要判斷因子。準此，本研究建議服務業的管理者可採用友善的回應方式及避免嚴重性較高的服務失誤的發生，並提高閱覽者對於公司聲譽的評價，進而降低其投入負面口碑之意圖。

With the popularity of the Internet, online forums have become one of many important media outlets by which customers can search for information about products or services. Complaint messages in online forums are usually one of elements that influence consumer buying behavior. However, corporate response strategies in online complaint messages and their effect on negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) are rarely investigated. In order to fill this gap, this study examines the effect of response strategies on observers’ attribution, organizational reputation, and, in turn, NWOM and the purpose of this study is to (1) examine the effects of different response strategies and severity of failure on observers’ attribution; and to (2) examine the relationship among observers’ attribution, organizational reputation and NWOM. This thesis conducted a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, and participants were randomly assigned. This study manipulated response strategies and severity of failure and measured attributions, organizational reputation and NWOM. 187 valid responses were collected. The results indicated that response strategies and severity of failure affect observer’s attribution, which is then negatively related to organizational reputation and positively related to NWOM. The contributions of this study are threefold: (1) Severity of failure is one of the elements that influence observers’ attribution; (2) The negative relationship between observers’ attribution and organizational reputation is supported; and (3) Contrary to the attribution of controllability, the role of attribution of locus is more critical to observers. For managerial implications, this study suggests that managers of service industries can adopt accommodative-strategies and prevent severe failures from happening so as to increase observers’ perception of organizational reputation and in turn, decrease their desire to engage in NWOM.

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