Abstract

Negative recommendations can increase perceived influencer credibility by signaling independence from promotional incentives, yet that benefit need not increase indefinitely with the frequency of criticism. This article develops a sociological and formal account of deinfluencing in which audiences infer latent communicator types – promotional, independently evaluative, or contrarian – from the observed rate of negative judgments. The resulting credibility function is single-peaked: an independence benefit with diminishing returns is offset by an accelerating reputational cost of habitual or strategic negativity.

Keywords

  • deinfluencing
  • influencer marketing
  • credibility
  • trust
  • signaling
  • Bayesian inference
  • confirmation bias
  • strategic contrarianism

About the author

Robin Dub

Miami, Florida, United States

https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4583-4764

Robin Dub is a professor of marketing in Florida. His work focuses on intercultural communication and global markets. Of Czech descent, he also turns to the most varied areas of life in Central Europe, past and present. His research includes consumer behaviour and digital marketing.

How to cite

DUB, Robin. How Negative Is Too Negative? Modeling the Trust Dynamics of Deinfluencing. Global Insights & Research Network [online]. 2026, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 11–58. ISSN 3029-8318. Available from: https://girn.uk/2-2026/how-negative-is-too-negative-deinfluencing/

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Licence and copyright

Copyright © 2026 Robin Dub. This article is open access, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).

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