Social networking sites are important to firms as firms use them to communicate with their
customers. This study investigates the overlooked collateral damage (the accidental negative outcomes
that occur when customers communicate with each other via social networking sites) that
customer-to-customer communications, through social networking, has for firms. Based on 3
experimental surveys with 614 participants, we found that information that is received publicly
by way of social networking sites elicit higher levels of betrayal than information that is received via
nonsocial networking platforms. Further, perceived betrayal increased negative word-of-mouth and
patronage reduction. Fortunately, the study finds that perceived firm responsiveness and perceived
fairness mitigate the negative impact of betrayal on both negative word-of-mouth and patronage
reduction. Managerial and theoretical implications are provided.