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This study aims to explore rumor sharing behavior among young consumers by evaluating the role of state anxiety and arousal as fundamental triggers to rumor sharing behavior. This study asserts that young consumers share rumors for emotional regulation and information sharing reasons, and aims to explore rumor sharing dynamics along these factors.

Using established scales, this paper collects data from 394 respondents (age 18-25 years) who are enrolled in engineering or management colleges in India. Using these data, the paper conducts a PLS-SEM-based analysis using SmartPLS 3.0 to establish hypothesized relationships. PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2017) is used in SPSS to assess the role of mediators.

Major findings of the study indicate that young consumers share rumors for emotional regulation and information sharing. State anxiety and arousal were positively associated to the consumers’ emotional regulation motivation, as well as their information sharing motivations. The findings illustrate that young consumers share rumors for managing their own emotions, as well as to help others who might be in need for such information. This assertion was further established by the mediating effect of these motivations on the relationship between the consumers’ emotions and their intention to share the rumor.

It was observed that that young consumers share rumors for emotional regulation and information sharing purpose. This contribution adds to the current research on motivations of rumor sharing. The paper highlights that rumor sharing is an outcome of emotional experiences, thereby contributing to “why” rumors are spread in the marketplace.

Rumors lack veracity, arise in contexts of uncertainty and influence perceptions, brand credibility and consumer loyalty. Thus it is critical to understand the dynamics of fast propagating rumors in the marketplace. This paper advances the theoretical understanding of the psychological factors driving rumor propagation among young consumers. The paper identifies and establishes the role of fundamental triggers of rumor sharing among young consumers.

Rumors about products and brands are common occurrence in the marketplace. Often these rumors are shared among consumers using the word of mouth channel. The spread of these rumors is fast and can lead to significant consequences to products and brands. The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics of such rumor sharing behavior among consumers. Specifically, this paper investigates the role of positive affect and negative affect in rumor sharing behavior. Three key rumor characteristics (valence, involvement and credibility) are explored as antecedents to positive affect and negative affect.

The paper collects data from 236 respondents using Amazon MTurk, and conducts a PLS–SEM analysis to explore the role of positive affect and negative affect in rumor sharing contexts.

Both positive affect and negative affect were found to be significant factors leading to rumor sharing, furthermore positive affect was found to have a stronger influence on rumor sharing as compared to negative affect. The study also delineates the role of valence, involvement and credibility in rumor sharing scenarios, all of which have a strong role in shaping positive affect and negative affect.

The study is novel in using cognitive appraisal theory to illustrate the formation of positive affect and negative affect in rumor encounters. The study conclusively illustrates the role of cognitive appraisal and emotional experiences in the rumor propagation context, and advances the marketing scholarship’s understanding significantly.

Participants will learn to analyze the basis of consumer segmentation in management education. It will specifically highlight the importance of positioning in influencing the marketing strategy of a firm and discuss the importance of a differentiated-low cost strategy to gain competitive advantage. The case will familiarize students with the business environment of rural India, and the applicability of the 4A’s and the 5D’s framework. Finally, the case will help participants understand the difference between a rural market and a Bottom-of-Pyramid (BoP) market.

A rural MBA institute for BoP students is grappling with the problem of low admissions, leading to an existential crisis. Two divergent options are presented to the protagonist. The first is to close down the B-school and use the infrastructure and facilities for a well-funded government skill development program which is vocational and intended for creating blue-collar workers. The second is to find ways to bolster the B-school to ensure that it gets adequate student enrollment, thereby leading to profitability.

This case is suitable for an undergraduate or MBA course in marketing management, rural marketing in India, South-Asian marketing or strategic marketing.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or e-mail support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. There is an accompanying spreadsheet with the case for studying the market. It contains relevant market data that would support analysis of the case. Comments are added for easy understanding. Instructors can access the separate spreadsheet that works out the break-even calculations for the fee structure of the institute. Instructions on calculations as well as comments are added for easy understanding.

CSS 8: Marketing.