The effects of firm actions on customers’ responses to product recall crises: analyzing an automobile recall in China

Jiuchang Wei, Ming Zhao, Fei Wang and Dingtao Zhao

Journal of Risk Research, 2016, vol. 19, issue 4, 425-443

Abstract: In times of product-harm crises, the involved firms always employ some countermeasures, such as releasing messages relevant to their response actions. To evaluate the influence of these messages on the perceptions and behavioral responses of corporate customers relative to the recalls, we conducted a case study of the Volkswagen automobile recall in China in 2013. Guided by the protective action decision model, we developed a conceptual model to first study customers’ responses to the recall crisis. Based on this model, we further examined the influence of two types of firm actions, namely technical and ceremonial, on the customer crisis-coping process. Results show that product experience, risk perception, and information seeking significantly influence customers’ behavioral intentions during the product recall crisis. Customers in the technical action group exhibit a higher level of risk perception based on their product experience and have a higher likelihood of seeking information. However, information seeking fails to influence their behavioral intentions. Ceremonial actions overcome the disadvantages of technical actions, but customers’ lack of solution information should be met. In this sense, crisis-involved firms are encouraged to employ a combination strategy including the implementation of the two types of firm actions and then promptly release the messages containing both actions.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13669877.2014.983946 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jriskr:v:19:y:2016:i:4:p:425-443

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RJRR20

DOI: 10.1080/13669877.2014.983946

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Risk Research is currently edited by Bryan MacGregor

More articles in Journal of Risk Research from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().