Multiple instances of negative publicity: the role of publicity domain similarity

ABSTRACT

Although it is typical for consumers to be exposed to multiple instances of negative publicity about a brand, existing research has focused on consumers’ reactions to one-time negative publicity instances. Given the important role of self-brand connection in consumers’ reactions to negative brand-related information, the current study investigates how consumers with different self-brand connection levels react to multiple instances of negative publicity in a single domain; which refers to the areas of a firm’s policies and actions, versus across different domains. Two experimental studies were conducted with U.S. adult participants to examine the interactive effect of self-brand connection and negative publicity domain similarity on consumers’ reactions. The results show that consumers with low self-brand connection, who are likely to perceive negative brand-related information very diagnostic, have less favorable reactions after exposure to multiple instances of negative publicity across different domains versus in the same domain. However, for consumers with high self-brand connection, who are likely to be defense motivated, there is not any significant difference in their reactions after exposure to multiple instances of negative publicity across different domains versus in a single domain. Additionally, this research shows that perceived responsibility assigned to the brand derives the observed results.

KEYWORDS:

• Negative Publicity
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Self-Brand Connection
• Unethical Company Behavior

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my dissertation committee members, as this paper would not have been possible without their guidance and support: Sankar Sen, Karl Lang, and Pragya Mathur. This work was supported by the Early Research Initiative (ERI) Grant of the Office of the Associate Provost at the City University of New York, Graduate Center.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Berna Basar

Dr. Berna Basar is a former Ph.D. student at Baruch College, City University of New York where she also taught business and marketing courses. Dr. Basar’s scholarly research focuses on corporate social responsibility, negative publicity, and sustainable consumer behavior. After completing her Ph.D., she worked as a Survey Engineer in the Research and Analytics Department of Marketing Evolution.