Should the shady steal thunder? The effects of crisis communication timing, pre‐crisis reputation valence, and crisis type on post‐crisis organizational trust and purchase intention

Abstract

A scenario‐based 2 (communication timing: stealing thunder vs. thunder) × 2 (pre‐crisis reputation valence: positive vs. negative) × 2 (crisis type: product‐harm vs. moral‐harm) between‐subjects experiment was implemented with 273 Dutch participants to address the question of whether or not the positive effects of stealing thunder depend on pre‐crisis reputation valence and crisis type. Statistical analyses reveal that stealing thunder by an organization with a positive pre‐crisis reputation results in higher post‐crisis trust and purchase intention levels than stealing thunder by an organization with a negative pre‐crisis reputation. Moreover, crisis type interacts with crisis communication timing in influencing post‐crisis trust and purchase intention, as stealing thunder works better than thunder during a product‐harm crisis.