The Age of Consumer Distrust : exploring the role of consumer expectations and brand crisis in the formation of brand distrust
Creators: name: Lee, So Young (Ph. D. In Advertising)
Publisher: name: The University of Texas at Austin
Year: 2020
Subjects: Brand distrust
Consumer expectation
Brand crisis
Expectancy violation theory

description: A confluence of trends – the increase in brand crises in tandem with the increase in consumer distrust of corporations and brands – calls for empirical research into how consumers develop distrust toward a brand. Furthermore, consumer expectations for companies and brands have continued to increase, yet little is known about how consumer expectations influence consumer distrust in the current turbulent market environment. Thus, this dissertation research explored how distrust develops and how it affects consumer responses in brand crises. Based on the expectancy violations theory (EVT), this dissertation suggests that a negative expectancy violation (i.e., a positive expectation that is not met) is necessary for generalized distrust to occur, which implies that distrust results from a negative violation that is generated by the interaction of a positive expectation and a crisis. A series of experimental studies revealed that prior positive consumer expectations in can backfire in challenging circumstances and examined the impact on consumer distrust and consumer responses to a brand. First, Study 1 examined the relationship between the prior expectation valence (positive vs. negative) and crisis existence on the formation of distrust and its effects on consumers’ negative response. The findings of Study 1 provided empirical support that an expectancy violation is the key determinant of brand distrust, and it is an influential factor in understanding the way consumers respond to brand crises. Furthermore, the findings of Study 1 showed that distrust is more susceptible to both CSR-related expectations and morality-related crises. Second, Study 2 explored the relative effects and consequences of the interplay between types of consumer expectancy violations and types of crises with regards to consumer distrust and consumer responses. Study 2 predicts that a greater violation of expectations is more likely to occur when the type of consumer expectations and type of brand crisis are closely aligned (competence-related crisis with CA expectations and morality-related crisis with CSR expectations) than when they are not, generating a higher level of distrust and more negative responses. The findings elucidated that when the realm of brand crisis was congruent with consumers’ prior expectations, consumers’ distrust and negative responses to a brand were greater than when the realm of brand crisis was not congruent with their prior expectations. It also appeared that an expectancy violation might not always influence consumer behaviors after a crisis in a similar way. Instead, depending on whether the type of consumer expectations and brand crisis are aligned (competence vs. morality domain), the effects vary. Further, the findings of both Study 1 and 2 showed the significant mediating role of distrust in understanding the way consumers respond to and behave in brand crisis. This research also provided practical implications for practitioners about the important roles of consumer expectations as an essential for a better understanding of how distrust takes shape and to manage consumer response effectively in times of a brand crisis.