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On the framework of cognitive appraisal theory, the current research proposes a paracrisis development model that illustrates how the cognitive appraisal of social norms and visual mockery in the social media evokes negative affect and subsequent coping behaviors in terms of boycotts. To test the model, an online experiment was conducted simulating a real-world paracrisis situation in which a user's Facebook commentary regarding a company's billboard ad sparked a social media outcry. Results of the study showed that both social proof and visual mockery played a role in the negative climate of opinion and perception of a crisis. Social proof and visual mockery also aroused negative affect. Notably, visual mockery affected negative affect of self rather than others, while social proof had a greater impact on negative affect of others than self. The elicited negative affect not only increased boycott intentions but it …