EXPRESS: That’s So Cringeworthy! Understanding What Cringe Is and Why We Want to Share It

What does it mean for something to be cringeworthy? To date, research studying this phenomenon has been lacking. Across six studies, this research seeks to provide a better understanding of cringe, both in terms of what it is as an emotion and what it does via its downstream consequences on consumer behavior. We delineate conceptually and empirically how cringe is a unique form of vicarious embarrassment (i.e., embarrassment experienced in response to someone else). Specifically, we show that cringe occurs when one observes an actor—either an individual, group of people, or even a brand—commit a social transgression by making an awkward attempt to form a positive impression on others in a way that is not excusable from the observer’s perspective. We also demonstrate a novel effect of cringe: consumers respond to cringeworthy experiences by wanting to share it with others via word-of-mouth. This effect occurs because the act of sharing cringeworthy experiences gives consumers an opportunity for self-enhancement by engaging in a favorable, downward social comparison to the actor committing the social transgression that elicited cringe. Theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and future research directions pertaining to emotion and word-of-mouth behavior are discussed.