How to Deal with Negative Publicity: the Importance of Consumer Involvement

Résumé 0

"Negative information about companies can have a harmful effect on consumer perceptions. However, fewstudies investigate how consumers process negative publicity and how companies should react to it. In order toexamine this question, two experiments were carried out: first, a laboratory experiment which tests howconsumers process two different types of negative publicity (product attributes or company values); second, afield experiment comparing three different responses (no answer, denial/reduction of offensiveness andcorrective action) given by the company affected by the negative publicity. Results from the first study confirmthe detrimental effect of negative publicity on consumer attitudes, indicate that consumers have a higher level ofinvolvement with the message when it is concerned with the company’s values and suggest a moderating role ofthe product involvement on the influence of negative information on corporate image. The second study extendsthese findings by identifying different options for company reactions from literature and testing themempirically. Results suggest again the involvement variable as a moderator, now on the influence of companyreaction on product image."