Imperial College London
Alternate

ProfessorAndreasEisingerich

Business School

Professor of Marketing
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 9763a.eisingerich

 
 
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Location

 

386DBusiness School BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Merlo:2024:10.1007/s11747-023-00929-3,
author = {Merlo, O and Eisingerich, AB and Hoyer, WD},
doi = {10.1007/s11747-023-00929-3},
journal = {Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science},
pages = {140--163},
title = {Immunizing customers against negative brand-related information},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-023-00929-3},
volume = {52},
year = {2024}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - In today’s connected market, brands are more likely than ever to face negative press that can put their customers relationships to the test. Building and fortifying positive aspects of the brand-customer relationship (such as brand commitment, brand love and self-brand connections) may ward off some of the impact of negative information on customers, but this does not always provide full protection. Even customers who love a brand can turn against it when negative information enters the picture. Considering this, the current study provides an exploratory investigation into a new way to build up customer resilience that would otherwise not be formed simply by strengthening positive attributes of the customer-brand relationship. It argues that brands can strengthen their customers’ immunity to negative brand-related information by using an immunity metric (i.e., merely asking customers to reflect on their immunity makes them more resilient to actual negative information in the future). The construct of immunity has the dual benefit of being diagnostic of relationship strength, as well as acting as an immunizing agent. We test this effect and the process underlying it using three pilot studies, three multi-method studies, and interviews with customers and managers across different contexts. By doing so, the study establishes the theoretical and practical value of customer immunity to negative information and makes critical conceptual and pragmatic contributions to the existing body of customer research.
AU  - Merlo,O
AU  - Eisingerich,AB
AU  - Hoyer,WD
DO  - 10.1007/s11747-023-00929-3
EP  - 163
PY  - 2024///
SN  - 0092-0703
SP  - 140
TI  - Immunizing customers against negative brand-related information
T2  - Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-023-00929-3
UR  - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-023-00929-3
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/102663
VL  - 52
ER  -
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