Guilt by association: Heuristic risks for foreign brands during a product-harm crisis in China

Hongzhi Gao, John G. Knight, Hongxia Zhang and Damien Mather

Journal of Business Research, 2013, vol. 66, issue 8, 1044-1051

Abstract: Critical for international marketers in volatile markets is understanding of factors that influence consumer responses during a product-harm crisis. Applying social psychology concepts of heuristic judgments and attribution theory, the authors study mistrust of non-contaminated but heuristically-associated foreign brands during the 2008 Chinese milk contamination crisis. Shared brand identity and investment or management links between a locally made product brand and a foreign imported brand expose the foreign brand to guilt-by-association (GBA) effects. Judgments regarding stability of the underlying cause of the domestic crisis moderate the transference of blame to foreign brands.

Keywords: Heuristic risks; Guilt-by-association (GBA); Foreign brands; Crisis; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:66:y:2013:i:8:p:1044-1051

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.12.029

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