Effects of a perceived brand crisis on product evaluation and purchase intention: the moderating roles of brand credibility and brand attachment

Abstract

Since a crisis always arises unexpectedly, companies are often unprepared to face it. It is obvious that no company can be perfectly safe from crises, and even the greatest company has the possibility to face a crisis. In fact, exposing a company's negative information results in a decrease in corporate credibility, brand loyalty, and corporate asset values. Existing brand crisis literature focuses on the corporate response effectiveness in strategic response time and the way to respond to a company's crisis. However, limited research is found regarding customer perceptions in a brand crisis situation. The purpose of this study is to examine how a perceived brand crisis affects consumer's product evaluation and purchase intention and to figure out how brand credibility and brand attachment moderate such effects. That is, this study examines whether brand credibility and brand attachment mitigate the negative effects in a brand crisis situation.