Impact Of Brand Equity On Attribution During A Product Harm Crisis

Because of the frequent outbreak and the enormous threat of product harm crisis, theoretical research on product harm crisis is required to guide the company in product harm crisis. The impact of brand equity on attribution during a product harm crisis has not been studied in the past research in subject of product harm crisis. In this study, the impact of brand equity on attribution during a product harm crisis is studied, based on the expectation-disconfirmation theory. The innovation of this research is to gain insight into the valence of Word-of-Mouth as a moderator variable to explore the boundary conditions of impact of brand equity on attribution during a product harm crisis.The study combines theoretical analysis with empirical research. This study uses the psychology experimental method in consumer behavior research. All of experimental materials (the virtual product introduction materials and product harm crisis press releases) used in the experiments are constructed through the pilot test and literature research. Then the study measures the impact on attribution during a product harm crisis in different brand equity and valence of Word-of-Mouth situations through between-subject experimental design.The results of the experiment lead to several findings, including:(1)The brand equity has a significant impact on three degrees of attribution, including:Locus, Stability, Control. We also find that brand equity has exacerbating effect on attribution during a product harm crisis.The valence of Word-of-Mouth moderates the effect of brand equity on attribution during a product harm crisis. When it is positive, brand equity resists negative impact on attribution during a product harm crisis. While it is negative and neutrality, brand equity exacerbates the negative impact on attribution during a product harm crisis.