How perfectionism reduces positive word‐of‐mouth: The mediating role of perceived social risk

Abstract

Abstract Although perfectionism can influence the way people think and act in a wide range of domains, consumer research has paid little attention to this personality trait. A theoretically anchored model proposes that the relationship between perfectionism traits and willingness to offer positive word‐of‐mouth (WOM) is mediated by the perceived social risk of recommending a brand to relatives and friends in person (i.e., the social risk of disapproval and embarrassment). We employed a mixed‐methods approach with symmetric (structural equation modeling [SEM]) and asymmetric (fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis [fsQCA]) methods. With SEM, we found that consumers with high levels of (1) doubts about actions, (2) other‐oriented perfectionism, and (3) nondisclosure of imperfection have a lower propensity to offer positive WOM, because of a higher perception of social risk. Further, results from fsQCA reveal that the absence of those three dimensions is a sufficient condition to the absence of perceived social risk. Overall, the present research deepens the current understanding of the psychological profile of WOM communicators, and the role perceived social risk has on the propensity to spread WOM.