Figure 4
The diagram displays five variables arranged in a left-to-right horizontal sequence: callout aggressiveness, blame, reviewer credibility, service firm credibility, and purchase intentions. Arrows connect these elements, each marked with a numerical value indicating the strength and direction of their relationships. Callout aggressiveness points to blame with a weak positive correlation of 0.15. Blame is linked to reviewer credibility with a moderate positive correlation of 0.50 and to service firm credibility with a moderate negative correlation of negative 0.42. Reviewer credibility connects to purchase intentions with a weak negative correlation of negative 0.11. In contrast, service firm credibility leads to purchase intentions with a strong positive correlation of 0.78. The flow highlights how blame mediates perceptions of both credibility dimensions, ultimately influencing purchase intentions.Model results for Study 3
Note(s): Item loadings are not shown above but can be seen in Supplementary Material 4. Blame was measured on a seven-point semantic differential scale where higher (lower) values indicate more blame placed on the service firm (reviewer). Parameter estimates are standardized
Source(s): Authors’ own work