No matter what you do, I still love you: an examination of consumer reaction to brand transgressions
| Date | 19 June 2020 |
| Pages | 594-608 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-07-2019-2450 |
| Published date | 19 June 2020 |
| Author | Eric Kennedy,Francisco Guzmán |
No matter what you do, I still love you: an
examination of consumer reaction to
brand transgressions
Eric Kennedy
Department of Marketing, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, USA, and
Francisco Guzm
an
Department of Marketing and Logistics, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to examine the impact that brand transgressions, and the effect of an apology or lack thereof, have on consumers’
intentions to co-create with a brand, perceived brand equity and brand love, and compares these effects on brand st hat are viewed positively versus
brands that are viewed negatively.
Design/methodology/approach –Two studies were deployed. In the first study, a 2 2 between subjects factorial design using fictitious brands
is used to test the hypotheses. The second study seeks to replicate the findings of the first study byusing a brand connected to a real retailer.
Findings –Regardless of a brand issuing an apology or not, co-creation, higher perceived brand equity and increased levels of brand love, are more
likely to occur when a consumer views a brand as being positive versus negative. However, the results vary when the consumer has a prior level of
knowledge and a stronger relationship with a brand.
Research limitations/implications –This paper focuses on consumers between the ages of 18 and 29 years. While the findings of Study 1 are
mostly replicated in Study 2, a more generalizable sample could create additional insights into theimpact of brand transgressions and issuing or not
an apology.
Originality/value –The findings of this paper add to the current literature on co-creation, brand equity, brand love and t heory of reasoned action,
in terms of the impact of an apology, or lack thereof, on brand transgressions and consequent consumer response s.
Keywords Purchase intention, Brand love, Brand co-creation, Consumer brand equity, Brand transgression, Co-creation, Brand equity
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Volkswagen, Facebook and H&M are only a few examples of
brands that in recent years have been under scrutiny because
of their acts that went againstthe rule of law or broke a code of
conduct, otherwise known as a transgression. After millions of
dollars spent, thousands of diesel powered cars bought back,
and a thorough renewal of its executive board, Bloomberg
BusinessWeek April 2nd, 2018cover read “Volkswagen’s great
escape, how the world’s largest automaker survived
Dieselgate”. After Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal,
the New York Times reported that only a few advertisers have
abandoned the platform and usershave minimally deleted their
accounts. Only months after H&M’s controversial racially
inappropriate hoodie ad, the company reported a record
inventory backlog and was forced to increase markdowns. A
transgression can be viewed as a violation of trust, causing
damage to the consumer brand relationship. How will
consumers react to a brand’s transgression? Should the brand
admit guilt and apologize to consumers?Will consumers accept
the apology? When an individual does something wrong, the
importance of the apology is commonplace and expected in
personal relationships –is this expectation the same in a
consumer –brand relationship? Previousresearch shows that a
brand apology has the most significant effect on consumer’s
rebuilding the relationship with a brand once an apology is
accepted (Huang and Xiong, 2010). What is lacking in the
current literature is what happens after the consumer recreates
this relationship. This paper thusexplores the effect of an
apology in a consumer–brandrelationship in terms of its impact
on co-creation,brand equity and brand love.
Corporate scandals are not new; they have been affecting
brands for as long as anyone can remember. Today, however,it
seems that when the news of a brand transgression surfaces a
collective hysteria dominates consumer sentiment, but as the
news cycle turns, consumers’attentionis placed elsewhere and
things seem to be forgotten. This in part could be the result of
the hyper informed world we live in, and to the fact that we are
living in times when scandals of different types permeate our
daily lives and we have grown used to them. Nevertheless, as
The current issue and full text archiveof this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
29/2 (2021) 594–608
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-07-2019-2450]
Received 3 July 2019
Revised 17 February 2020
17 May 2020
22 May 2020
Accepted 23 May 2020
594
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