The image of celebrities is highly dependent on online public opinion. However, some haters are easily driven by personal emotions, herd mentality and other factors to spread malicious comments and other irrational behaviours on the Internet, causing the spread of negative public opinion. A passer-by on the Internet refers to an ordinary Internet user who has no direct interest or preconceived position in a specific online community. Online bad reviews can not only affect a celebrity’s image, public relations and fan base, but also affect passers-by’s perception or evaluation of the celebrity, thereby hindering them from turning into actual followers. Combining the theory of the spiral of silence and the third-person effect, this paper explores how the remarks of haters shape public perception. Using Roy Wang’s social media feedback as a case study, this paper systematically analyses the impact of online bad reviews on the image of ordinary people and celebrities. In response to this issue, several implications have been proposed, and it is expected that these strategies will reduce the impact of bad reviews on the public relations image of celebrities and lower the probability of passers-by being misled by a large number of bad reviews.
Ran Gao (2026) studied this question.