온라인 커뮤니티 맥락에서 브랜드 위기유형이 소비자의 지각된 위험 및 부정적 반응에 미치는 영향: 정보 생동감과 소비자 외향성의 조절효과를 중심으로

초록

As everyone can easily produce and share data in internet environment, the spread of the negative information is seen as a threat by many marketers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the difference of negative impact of consumer reaction according to brand crisis type in the context of online community. Specifically, this study predicted that the perceived risk by consumers of brand crisis type will affect the negative reaction, and that this will be controlled by the vividness of information and the degree of extraversion of consumers. Therefore, we conducted 2 (brand crisis: CA association vs. CSR association) x 2 (information vividness: high vs. low) × 2 (consumer extraversion: high vs. low) between-subjects design. The results showed that the participants felt more personal risks when the brand crisis was associated with product defects than ethical responsibility. However, there was no difference in social risk according to the brand crisis type. Furthermore, the personal risk from brand crisis had a strong influence on the negative brand attitude of the participants. In addition, interaction effect of brand crisis type and information vividness on participant's personal risk appeared. In the case of high information vividness, the personal risk according to the brand crisis type was larger whereas, in the case of low information vividness, the personal risk was indifferent. The influence of the brand crisis type and the information vividness on negative responses were found to be due to the personal risk. Finally, the three-way interaction effect of brand crisis type, information vividness, and consumer extraversion variables on negative response was significant. Specifically, when exposed to crisis associated with ethical responsibility, the level of information vividness and participant’s extraversion did not affect the negative responses, but when exposed to crises from product defects, the level of information vividness and participant’s extraversion were differently significant on the negative eWOM. But, the influence of three variables were minimal impact on the negative brand attitude. This also shows that the personal risk felt by the participant mediates the relationship between brand crisis, information vividness, consumer extraversion and negative word of mouth. This study examines the factors affecting consumers' reactions when consumers are exposed to negative information related to the brand in the online community so that the company find more practical and effective guidelines on factors to consider in crisis management.

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