University of Twente Student Theses
Communicating Regrets in Product Harm Crisis : The Effect of Brand Crisis Type, Communicated Emotions, and Message Source on stakeholder behaviour outcomes
Ndamah-Arthur, Kweku (2022) Communicating Regrets in Product Harm Crisis : The Effect of Brand Crisis Type, Communicated Emotions, and Message Source on stakeholder behaviour outcomes.
|
PDF
2MB |
| Abstract: | A brand crisis event has the potential to negatively affect stakeholders’ emotions, brand trust, and purchase intentions. As a result, stakeholders of the organization in crisis look for information on what has occurred and who is to blame. Past studies have shown that the type of crisis, the crisis message source, and the emotions that are communicated to the stakeholders during a brand crisis have a significant impact on the stakeholders’ post-crisis behaviors. However, studies in this domain are very limited, warranting the need for further investigations. Therefore, the primary goal of this paper was to examine the extent to which brand crisis type, communicated emotions, and message source influence stakeholders’ emotions, brand trust, and purchase intentions. This study also considered the mediating roles of stakeholders’ brand trust. A total of 192 English-speaking students taking their course at a Dutch University participated in this study. A 2 (Brand Crisis type: technical-error vs human-error) x 2 (communicated emotions: regret vs no emotion) x 2 (message source: CEO vs general company spokesperson) between-subject design was used to achieve the study objectives. A MANOVA revealed that product harm crisis negatively affects stakeholders' post-crisis behaviors. This effect was stronger for the human-error crisis than the technical-error product-harm crisis. Expressing regret during a product harm crisis positively influenced stakeholders' emotions, brand trust, and purchase intentions. Also, using a CEO as a spokesperson during a product harm crisis proved to be successful. Additionally, the combination of CEO expressing regret in a technical-error product harm crisis resulted in positive post-crisis behaviors. Stakeholders’ brand trust mediated the effects on purchase intentions. The study's findings have practical implications, including that crisis communication should always be approached holistically, and that companies or brands must choose the appropriate crisis communication strategy for the type of crisis they are dealing with. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies |
| Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/89542 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
Show download statistics for this publication
Show download statistics for this publicationRepository Staff Only: item control page