How company responses and trusting relationships protect brand equity in times of crises

Brands are susceptible to various forms of crises, regardless of whether a brand’s conscious deviation from socially acceptable practices or forces and activities beyond the brand’s control prompted a crisis. Undeniably, crises can have negative ramifications for the brand’s consumer relationships a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe journal of brand management Vol. 21; no. 5; pp. 429 - 445
Main Authors Hegner, Sabrina M, Beldad, Ardion D, Kamphuis op Heghuis, Sjarlot
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Palgrave Macmillan UK 01.06.2014
Palgrave Macmillan
Subjects
Brand equity
Brand loyalty
Brands
Business and Management
Communication
Consumer attitudes
Consumers
Management
Management of crises
Marketing
Original Article
Product recalls
Product tampering
Reputations
Trust
Netherlands
brand equity
crisis
brand trust
crisis response strategies
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Summary:Brands are susceptible to various forms of crises, regardless of whether a brand’s conscious deviation from socially acceptable practices or forces and activities beyond the brand’s control prompted a crisis. Undeniably, crises can have negative ramifications for the brand’s consumer relationships and financial assets. An experimental study with 187 residents of the Netherlands was conducted to determine whether or not crisis response strategies influence post-crisis brand equity. In addition, the research also investigated the influence of pre-crisis brand trust on the relationship between crisis response and post-crisis brand equity. Results show that the ways in which brands react to a crisis have an influence on brand equity. Non-response leads to the depreciation of brand equity. Furthermore, pre-crisis brand trust can serve as a buffer for a brand during a crisis and even after it.
ISSN:1350-231X
1479-1803
DOI:10.1057/bm.2014.12