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Full Title
MERCATI & COMPETITIVITÀ
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Publisher
FrancoAngeli
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ISSN
1826-7386 (Printed Journal)
1972-4861 (Online Journal)
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Journal Issue Number
1
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Journal Issue Designation
1
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Journal Issue Date (YYYY/MM)
2017/03
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Full Title
Consumers' responses to ethical brand crises on social media platforms
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By (author)
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First Page
141
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Last Page
157
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Language of text
English
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Publication Date
2017/03
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Copyright
2017 FrancoAngeli srl
Introduction or preface
Ethical brand crises are a breach in the core values held by a brand and a violation of the relationship between the brand and its stakeholders, and social networks provide consumers with a platform upon which they can discuss these crises and their meanings in detail. Through a qualitative content analysis and an interpretive approach, here we investigate the reaction of the social media audience to an apology released by a company after an ethical brand crisis. The emerging findings suggest that consumers engage in consumer identity work according to different strategies: they sublimate or minimize the crisis (defence of the brand) or focus on the ideological structure of marketing (criticism). In both cases, consumers offer the company an opportunity to assess and improve the ethical dimension of their marketing practices.
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