An experimental study into the effects of self-disclosure and crisis type on brand evaluations – the mediating effect of blame attributions
| Date | 20 August 2018 |
| Pages | 534-544 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-05-2017-1478 |
| Published date | 20 August 2018 |
| Author | Sabrina M. Hegner,Ardion D. Beldad,Ruth Hulzink |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
An experimental study into the effects
of self-disclosure and crisis type on brand
evaluations –the mediating effect
of blame attributions
Sabrina M. Hegner
Fachhochschule Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany, and
Ardion D. Beldad and Ruth Hulzink
Communication Science, Universiteit Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Abstract
Purpose –Brands facing a crisis have to decide whether to disclose crisis-related information themselves or to wait and tak e the risk that a third
party breaks the news. While brands might benefit from self-disclosing the information, it is likely that the impact of crisis communication on
customers’evaluation of the brand depends on the type of crisis. This study aims to investigate the influence of type of crisis on the relationshp
between disclosure and brand outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach –A22 between-subjects experiment with 180 Dutch participants was conducted.
Findings –Results show that self-disclosure of a negative incident positively affects consumers’attitude, trust and purchase intention compared to third-
party disclosure. Additionally, disclosure and crisis type interact. In times of a product-harm crisis, self-disclosure does not represent an advantage to third
party disclosure, while in times of a moral-harm crisis disclosure by the brand is able to maintain customers’positive attitude towards and trust in the brand
compared to disclosure by a third party. Moreover, blame attribution mediates the effect of crisis type on brand evaluations.
Originality/value –Recent research indicates that self-disclosing crisis information instead of waiting until thunder strikes has beneficial effects for
a brand in times of crisis. However, these studies use the context of product-harm crises, which neglects the possible impact of moral-harm crises.
Furthermore, this study adds the impact of blame attributions as a mediator in this context.
Keywords Disclosure, Brand attitude, Purchase intention, Crisis management, Brand trust, Blame attribution
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
While brands are valuable assets for any company, theyalso are
vulnerable to the scathing effects of a crisis. Any crisis can
disturb an organization’s process, and when inadequately
handled, might damage the value of a brand (Benoit, 1997;
Coombs, 2007;Davies et al.,2003;Dawar and Pillutla, 2000;
Hegner et al., 2014). Research shows that the reputational
damage of a crisis is minimised ifthe brand is the first to inform
its stakeholders of the crisis instead of the media exposing it
(Fennis and Stroebe, 2014). Successfulmanagement of a crisis
largely depends on how a brand acts after the crisis hits, and
this strongly confirms the strategic value of effective crisis
management (Benoit,1997;Brown and White, 2011;Coombs,
2007;Souiden and Pons, 2009).When something goes wrong,
the brand may decide to be the first to fully admit that
something with potentially harmful consequences exists (self-
disclosure), just as it can also opt to stay hushed about the
incident until a third party (e.g.the media) discloses it.
The idea of a company making its wrongdoing public may
seem counterintuitive at first (Coombs, 2014). Brand
managers might feel uneasy at the thought of becoming the
focus of negative news reports (Fennisand Stroebe, 2014). But
in an age when crisis information spreads rapidly (Palen et al.,
2009), due to the possibility for people to constantly connect
with one another using social media, being taciturn when
something goes wrongis not an option for a company anymore.
Hence, it is imperative for that companyto sufficiently respond
to a crisis to set itself apart from its competitors
(Vassilikopoulouet al.,2009).
The impact of crisis disclosure has received little research
attention so far (Claeys et al., 2013,2016;Fennisand Stroebe,
2014). Initial research in communication literature explored
the effects outside of any situational context (Arpan and
Pompper, 2003;Arpan and Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2005). Recent
studies include interacting variables such as the initial
reputation of a company (Fennis and Stroebe, 2014), crisis
response strategy (response strategy vs. objective information
only) (Claeys and Cauberghe, 2012) and message framing
(Claeys et al., 2013).However, these studies were carried out in
the context of a functional crisis not including any moral harm.
Consulting research comparing the effects of different crisis
types leads to the conclusion that consumers respond
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
27/5 (2018) 534–544
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-05-2017-1478]
534
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