The secret to successful evocative messages: Anger takes the lead in information sharing over anxiety

Abstract

We conducted two studies to compare how anxiety and anger influence the online spread of information. Study 1 found that tweets expressing anger reached more people and had deeper retweet chains than tweets expressing anxiety, across all measures of retweet cascades (i.e., size, depth, maximum breadth, and structural virality). Study 2 used an online survey and confirmed anger’s supremacy in information sharing. Individuals who were angry indicated a higher intention to share emotional tweets of both anger and anxiety, whereas those who felt anxious only shared tweets of the corresponding affect. Also, individuals who were experiencing both emotions showed the highest intention to share. The implications are discussed in light of co-existing emotions and their direct and interaction effects.