Mitigating Product Harm Crises and Making Markets Sustainable: How does National Culture Matter?
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Hypotheses Development
- H1. The Chinese consumer is expected to enhance his/her perception of the troubled firm’s moral responsibility in the presence of the voluntary response strategy.
- H2. The Sri Lankan consumer is expected to enhance his/her perception of the troubled firm’s moral responsibility in the presence of the super effort response strategy.
- H3. National culture moderates the impact of crises response on companies’ moral reputation among consumers.
3. Methodology
3.1. Design and Stimuli
3.2. Sample and Procedure
3.3. Variables and Measurements
4. Results and Discussion
4.1. Reliability and Manipulation Check
Variables | Items | KMO of Sampling Adequacy | Cronbach’s Alpha | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
China | SL | China | SL | ||
MRC | Company “A” deserves little respect from me This event makes me disbelieving about the virtue and the values of company “A” This event makes me feel that company “A” lacks integrity | 0.74 *** | 0.77 *** | 0.90 | 0.95 |
MRB | Brand “X” deserves little respect from me This event makes me disbelieving about the virtue and the values of brand “X” This event makes me feel that brand “X” lacks integrity | 0.78 *** | 0.77 *** | 0.96 | 0.94 |
CBBE belief | What do you feel about the attitude of brand “X”? What do you feel about the trust of brand “X”? What do you feel about the overall perceived quality of brand “X”? What do you feel about the overall perceived quality of the products of brand “X”? What do you feel about the desirability of brand “X”? | 0.84 *** | 0.86 *** | 0.94 | 0.92 |
Variables | Items | KMO of Sampling Adequacy | Cronbach’s Alpha | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
China | SL | China | SL | ||
MRC | Company “A” deserves little respect from me; This event makes me disbelieving about the virtue and the values of company “A”; This event makes me feel that company “A” lacks integrity | 0.71 *** | 0.77 *** | 0.80 | 0.94 |
MRB | Brand “X” deserves little respect from me; This event makes me disbelieving about the virtue and the values of brand “X”; This event makes me feel that brand “X” lacks integrity | 0.72 *** | 0.75 *** | 0.91 | 0.94 |
CBBE belief | What do you feel about the attitude of brand “X”? What do you feel about the trust of brand “X”? What do you feel about the overall perceived quality of brand “X”? What do you feel about the overall perceived quality of the products of brand “X”? What do you feel about the desirability of brand “X”? | 0.84 *** | 0.89 *** | 0.92 | 0.98 |
Variables | Items | KMO of Sampling Adequacy | Cronbach’s Alpha | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
China | SL | China | SL | ||
MRC | Company “A” deserves little respect from me; This event makes me disbelieving about the virtue and the values of company “A”; This event makes me feel that company “A” lacks integrity | 0.77 *** | 0.75 *** | 0.95 | 0.91 |
MRB | Brand “X” deserves little respect from me; This event makes me disbelieving about the virtue and the values of brand “X”; This event makes me feel that brand “X” lacks integrity | 0.75 *** | 0.74 *** | 0.96 | 0.86 |
CBBE belief | What do you feel about the attitude of brand “X”? What do you feel about the trust of brand “X”? What do you feel about the overall perceived quality of brand “X”? What do you feel about the overall perceived quality of the products of brand “X”? What do you feel about the desirability of brand “X”? | 0.79 *** | 0.86 *** | 0.94 | 0.92 |
4.2. Descriptive Statistics-Sample Characteristics
Situation | Country | Average age | Gender | Average family income(US$/month) | Average family size * (No.) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
male | female | |||||
Control | China | 22 | 46 | 54 | 795 | 3 |
Sri Lanka | 26 | 40 | 60 | 338 | 4 | |
Vol. | China | 21 | 22 | 78 | 800 | 3 |
Sri Lanka | 25 | 68 | 32 | 320 | 5 | |
Super | China | 21 | 25 | 75 | 1000 | 3 |
Sri Lanka | 25 | 48 | 52 | 400 | 6 |
4.3. Empirical Results and Discussion
5. Conclusions
Managerial Implications
Acknowledgements
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Siomkos, G.; Kurzbard, G. The Hidden Crisis in Product-Harm Crisis Management. Eur. J. Market. 1994, 28, 30–41. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dodosh, M. Firestone Woes Create Opportunity. Available online: http://adage.com/article/news/firestone-woes-create-opportunity/56974/ (accessed on 12 February 2014).
- Bates, S. Coke is banned after safety scare. Available online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,205762,00.html (accessed on 12 February 2014).
- Dutta, S.; Pullig, C. Effectiveness of corporate responses to brand crises: The role of crisis type and response strategies. J. Bus. Res. 2011, 64, 1281–1287. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dawar, N.; Pillutla, M.M. Impact of Product-Harm Crises on Brand Equity: The Moderating Role of Consumer Expectations. J. Market. Res. 2000, 38, 215–226. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kurzbard, G.; Siomkos, G.J. Crafting a Damage Control Plan: Lessons from Perrier. Available online: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/235290118_Crafting_a_Damage_Control_Plan_Lessons_from_Perrier (accessed on 10 January 2012).
- Ucelli, L. The CEO’s “how to” guide to crisis communications. Strategy Leadersh. 2002, 30, 21–24. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Murray, E.; Shohen, S. Lessons from the Tylenol tragedian surviving a corporate crisis. Med. Market. Media 1992, 27, 14–19. [Google Scholar]
- Cleeren, K.; Dekimpe, M.G.; Helsen, K. Weathering Product-Harm Crises. J. Acad. Market. Sci. 2008, 36, 262–270. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McCort, D.; Malhotra, N.K. Culture and consumer behavior: Toward an understanding of cross-cultural consumer behavior in international marketing. J. Int. Consum. Market. 1993, 6, 91–127. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hofstede, G. Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values; Sage Publications: Beverly Hills, CA, USA, 1980. [Google Scholar]
- Hofstede, G. The cultural relativity of the quality of life concept. Acad. Manag. Rev. 1984, 9, 389–398. [Google Scholar]
- Kotler, P.; Keller, K.L.; Koshy, A.; Jha, M. Marketing Management: A South Asian Perspective, 13th ed.; Dorling Kindersley India: Noida, India, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Hofstede, G. Cultures and organizations: Software of the Mind; McGraw-Hill: Maidenhead, UK, 1991. [Google Scholar]
- Hagan, T.Y.; Long, S.J. The Ethics of Crisis Management: A Juxtaposition of Examples in Cognitive-Decision Making and Framing in Corporate Crisis Management. J. Bus. Econ. Res. 2005, 3, 49–60. [Google Scholar]
- Muller, D.; Charles, M.J.; Yzerbyt, V.Y. When moderation is mediated and mediation is moderated. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2005, 89, 852–863. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hartel, C.; McColl-Kennedy, J.R.; McDonald, L. Incorporating attributional theory and the theory of reasoned action within an affective events theory framework to produce a contingency predictive model of consumer reactions to organizational mishaps. Adv. Consum. Res. 1998, 25, 428–432. [Google Scholar]
- Lerbinger, O. The Crisis Manager: Facing Risk and Responsibility; Lawrence Erlbaum Assiciates: Mahwah, NJ, USA, 1997. [Google Scholar]
- Vassilikopoulou, A.; Chatzipanagiotou, K.; Siomkos, G.; Triantafillidou, A. The role of consumer ethical beliefs in product harm crises. J. Consum. Behav. 2011, 10, 279–289. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Greene, J.; Haidt, J. How (and where) does moral judgment work? Trends. Cognit. Neurosci. 2002, 6, 517–523. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Simkos, G.J. Consumer response to company communications during a product harm crisis. J. Appl. Bus. Res. 2011, 8, 59–65. [Google Scholar]
- Fortune Global 500, 2007. Available online: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/full_list/ (accessed on 14 December 2012).
- Choi, Y.; Lin, Y.H. Consumer response to crisis: Exploring the concept of involvement in Mattel product recalls. Public Relat. Rev. 2009, 35, 18–22. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Jin, Y.; Hong, S.Y. Explicating crisis coping in crisis communication. Public. Relat. Rev. 2010, 36, 352–360. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Siomkos, G.; Shrivastava, P. Responding to Product Liability Crises. Long Range Plan. 1993, 26, 72–79. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Siomkos, G. On achieving exoneration after a product safety industrial crisis. J. Bus. Ind. Market. 1999, 14, 17–29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Coombs, W.T. Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory. Corp. Reput. Rev. 2007, 10, 163–176. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Laufer, D.; Gillespie, K.; McBride, B.; Gonzalez, S. The role of severity in consumer attributions of blame: Defensive attributions in product harm crises in Mexico. J. Int. Consum. Market. 2005, 17, 33–50. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Taylor, M. Cultural variance as a challenge to global public relations: A case study of the Coca-Cola scare in Europe. Public Relat. Rev. 2000, 26, 277–293. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Laufer, D.; Coombs, W. How should a company respond to a product harm crisis? The role of corporate reputation and consumer-based cues. Bus. Horiz. 2006, 49, 379–385. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sondergaard, M. Research note: Hofstede’s consequences: A study of reviews, citations and replications. Organ. Stud. 1994, 15, 447–456. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Steenkamp, J. The role of national culture in international marketing research. Int. Market. Rev. 2001, 18, 30–44. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hofstede, G. Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind; McGraw-Hill: New York, NY, USA, 1997. [Google Scholar]
- Hofstede, G. Culture’s Consequences, 2nd ed.; Sage Publicatons: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2001. [Google Scholar]
- Lerberman, M.D.; Jarcho, J.M.; Obayashi, J. Attributional inferences across cultures: Similar automatic attributions and different controlled corrections. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2005, 31, 1–14. [Google Scholar]
- Choi, I.; Nisbett, R.E.; Norenzayan, A. Causal attribution across cultures: Variation and universality. Psychol. Bull. 1999, 125, 47–63. [Google Scholar]
- Norenzayan, A.; Choi, I.; Nisbett, R.E. Cultural similarities and differences in social inference: Evidence from behavioral predictions and lay theories of behavior. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2002, 28, 109–120. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chapple, W.; Moon, J. CSR in Asia: A seven country study of web site reporting. Bus. Soc. 2005, 44, 415–441. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sekaran, U. Methodological and theoretical issues and advancements in crosscultural research. J. Int. Bus. Stud. 1983, 14, 61–73. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Nasif, E.G.; Al-Daeaj, H.; Ebrahimi, B.; Thibodeaux, M.S. Methodological problems in cross cultural research: An updated review. Manag. Int. Rev. 1991, 31, 79–91. [Google Scholar]
- Haas-Kotzegger, U.; Schlegelmilch, B.B. Conceptualizing consumers’ experiences of product-harm crises. J. Consum. Market. 2013, 30, 112–120. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Vassilikopoulou, A.; Siomkos, G.; Chatzipanagiotou, K.; Pantouvakis, A. Product Harm Crisis Management: Time heals all wounds? J. Retailing Consum. Serv. 2009, 16, 174–180. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Siomkos, G.J. Managing product-harm crises. Ind. Crisis Q. 1989, 3, 41–60. [Google Scholar]
- Shrivastava, P.; Siomkos, G. Disaster containment strategies. J. Bus. Strategy 1989, 10, 26–30. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Smith, R.E.; Swinyard, W.R. Information response models: An integrated approach. J. Market. 1982, 46, 81–93. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Weiner, B. An Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion; Springer-Verlag: New York, NY, USA, 1986. [Google Scholar]
- Klein, J.; Dawar, N. Corporate social responsibility and consumers’ attributions and brand evaluations in a product-harm crisis. Int. J. Res. Market. 2004, 21, 203–217. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhou, L.X.; Whitla, P. How negative celebrity publicity influences consumer attitudes: The mediating role of moral reputation. J. Bus. Res. 2013, 66, 1013–1020. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Keller, K.L. Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity. J. Market. 1993, 51, 1–22. [Google Scholar]
- Agarwal, M.K.; Rao, V.R. An empirical comparison of consumer-based measures of brand equity. Market. Lett. 1996, 7, 237–247. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Share and Cite
Samaraweera, G.C.; Li, C.; Qing, P. Mitigating Product Harm Crises and Making Markets Sustainable: How does National Culture Matter? Sustainability 2014, 6, 2642-2657. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6052642
Samaraweera GC, Li C, Qing P. Mitigating Product Harm Crises and Making Markets Sustainable: How does National Culture Matter? Sustainability. 2014; 6(5):2642-2657. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6052642
Chicago/Turabian StyleSamaraweera, Ganganee C., Chongguang Li, and Ping Qing. 2014. "Mitigating Product Harm Crises and Making Markets Sustainable: How does National Culture Matter?" Sustainability 6, no. 5: 2642-2657. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6052642
APA StyleSamaraweera, G. C., Li, C., & Qing, P. (2014). Mitigating Product Harm Crises and Making Markets Sustainable: How does National Culture Matter? Sustainability, 6(5), 2642-2657. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6052642