The Correlation of Brand Equity and Crisis: A Review and Directions for Future Research

Liuying He, Yaxuan Ran

Management College, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.

DOI: 10.4236/me.2015.63036                

Abstract

The relations between brand equity and crisis draw the attentions of theorists and practitioners. Previous researches were unidirectional, which suggested that brand equity has an impact on crisis, or crisis influence brand equity. However, the two-way effects between crisis and brand equity are still unknown. The purpose of this paper is to review the findings like the factors that crisis affect brand equity, as well as the process of how brand equity adjusts severity or evaluation of crisis. The researches on the bidirectional mechanism behind the relationship of brand equity and crisis are insufficient, which will be the important directions in the future.

Keywords

Crisis, Brand Equity, Two-Way Effect, Response to the Crisis

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Aaker, D.A. (1990) Managing Brand Equity. Macmillan, New York.
[2]	Brady, M., Cronin, J., Fox, G. and Roehm, M.L. (2008) Strategies to Offset Performance Failure: the Role of Brand Equity. Journal of Retailing, 84, 151-164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2008.04.002
[3]	Barton, L. (1994) Crisis Management Planning: The Ultimate Weapon in Protecting Competitive Advantage. Competitive Intelligence Review, 5, 31-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cir.3880050209
[4]	Fang, Z. and Yang, Y. (2011) Research on the Influence of Protecting Brand Equity in the Event of Defensible Product Harm Crisis by Appropriate Remedial Response: Moderating and Mediating Effects. Nankai Management Review, 14, 69-79.
[5]	Lin, Z., Zhao, X., Ismail, K.M. and Carley, K.M. (2006) Organizational Design and Restructuring in Response to Crises: Lessons from Computation Modeling and Real-World Cases. Organization Science, 17, 598-618. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1060.0210
[6]	Keller, L.K. (1993) Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Consumer-based Brand Equity. Journal of Marketing, 57, 1-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1252054
[7]	Dawar, N. and Pillutla, M. (2000) Impact of Product-Harm Crisis on Brand Equity: the Moderating Role of Consumer Expectations. Journal of Marketing Research, 37, 215-226. http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.37.2.215.18729
[8]	Fang, Z. and Jiang, M.H. (2010) Product Harm Crisis Response Strategy Research on the Influence of Brand Equity— Adjustment of Corporate Reputation and the Crisis Type. Management of the World, 12, 105-118.
[9]	Dawar, N. and Lei, J. (2009) Brand Crises: The Roles of Brand Familiarity and Crisis Relevance in Determining the Impact on Brand Evaluations. Journal of Business Research, 62, 509-516. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.02.001
[10]	Wu, H.Y. (2011) Brand Crisis Management—Based on the Research of Brand Relationship Perspective. Jinan University Press, Guangzhou, 34-36.
[11]	King, C. and Grace, D. (2010) Building and Measuring Employee-Based Brand Equity. Journal of Marketing, 44, 147.
[12]	Dawar, N. and Pillutla, M.M. (2000) Impact of Product-Harm Crisis on Brand Equity: The Moderating Role of Consumer Expectations. Journal of Marketing Research, 37, 215-226. http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.37.2.215.18729
[13]	Wu, X.M. (2008) Consumer Individual Differences Affect Brand Equity Research. China’s Circulation Economy, 10, 55-5.
[14]	Coombs, W.T. (1999) Information and Compassion in Crisis Response: A Test of Their Effects. Journal of Public Relations Research, 11, 125-142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1102_02
[15]	Dutta, S. and Pullig, C. (2011) Effectiveness of Corporate Responses to Brand Crises: The Role of Crisis Type and Response Strategies. Journal of Business Research, 64, 1281-1287. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.01.013
[16]	Smith, L. (2003) Media Strategies in Product Liability Crises. Of Counsel, 22, 6-11.
[17]	Siomkos, G.J. and Kurzbard, G. (1994) The Hidden Crisis in Product-Harm Crisis Management. European Journal of Marketing, 28, 30-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090569410055265
[18]	Ahluwalia, R., Burnkrant, R.E. and Unnava, H.R. (2000) Consumer Response to Negative Publicity: The Moderating Role of Commitment. Journal of Marketing Research, 37, 203-214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.37.2.203.18734
[19]	Sloot, L.M., Verhoef, P.C. and Franses, P. (2005) The Impact of Brand Equity and The Hedonic Level of Products on Consumer Stock-Out Reactions. Journal of Retailing, 81, 15-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2005.01.001
[20]	Raju, S. and Unnava, R. (2006) The Role of Arousal in Commitment: An Explanation for the Number of Counterarguments. Journal of Consumer Research, 33, 173-178. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/506298
[21]	Rhee, M. and Haunschild, P.R. (2006) The Liability of Good Reputation: A Study of Product Recalls in the US Automobile Industry. Organization Science, 17, 101-117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1050.0175
[22]	Dean, D.H. (2004) Consumer Reaction to Negative Publicity: Effect of Corporate Reputation, Response, and Responsibility for a Crisis Event. International Journal of Business Communication, 41, 192-211. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0021943603261748
[23]	Roehm, M. and Brady, M. (2007) Consumer Response to Performance Failures by High-Equity Brands. Journal of Consumer Research, 34, 537-545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/520075
[24]	Huang, J. and Xiong, W. (2009) The Effect of Input by the Brand that Made Mistakes on Consumers’ Willing of Relationship-Rebuilding. China Soft Science, 6, 119-127.