A Tango of Two Dark Emotions: Mixed Reactions to Commercial Entities (Mis)fortunes

Two related and pervasive affective states have been a subject of considerable debate among scholars for years: schadenfreude —pleasure at another’s misfortune, and gluckschmerz —displeasure at another’s good fortune. Following recent discussion surrounding the conceptual ambiguities of the two states, scholars from divergent traditions have speculated that they comprise atypical social states of dubious moral sentiments, which are liable to precipitate mixed feelings (ambivalence). The major aim of the present study, therefore, is to advance a novel emotional co-activation approach, which underlines a complex network of online emotional marketing episodes of schadenfreude and gluckschmerz. Three studies reveal that perceived rivals’ pleasurable losses and disappointing wins are apt to generate simultaneous positive and negative affect in the form of mixed attitudes and feelings. Analyses provide strong evidence for the main effects of personality and situational features, as well as less robust yet consistent evidence for person-situation interaction effects. Based on the results, trait ambivalence appears to provide a novel explanation for schadenfreude and gluckschmerz responses, suggesting a link between schadenfreude and trait ambivalence when consumers encounter online information about a (dis)liked or rival marketplace entity’s (mis)fortune. Overall, the results advance our proposed theory of ambivalent schadenfreude and gluckschmerz and the role of these constructs in negative eWOM communications.