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Attributions of blame following a product-harm crisis depend on consumers’ attachment styles

Marketing Letters volume 27, pages 285–294 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

This research examines consumers’ attachment styles as a predictor of attributions of blame following a product-harm crisis. Though the interpersonal attachment literature suggests that consumers with the secure attachment style should attribute the least amount of blame to the brand, we introduce a novel and seemingly contradictory hypothesis. Because of the unique nature of brand relationships, we hypothesize that consumers with the fearful attachment style will attribute the least amount of blame to the brand. In an experiment, we find support for both hypotheses. Further, we find that these effects occur via different mechanisms. Whereas the secure attachment style decreases attributions of controllability, the fearful attachment style decreases attributions of stability. Though many relationship tendencies have been transferred from the interpersonal domain to the consumer domain, our findings remind researchers that brands are a distinct type of relationship partner.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. Though multi-item measures are generally preferred, single-item measures are adequate when the object is concrete singular and the attribute is concrete (i.e., both the object and attribute are easily and uniformly understood; Bergkvist and Rossiter 2007; Rossiter 2002). Further, when items are “doubly concrete,” additional items risk tapping other attributes (Rossiter 2002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Administrative Studies, York University, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada

    Jodie Whelan

  2. Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University, London, Ontario, N6G 0N1, Canada

    Niraj Dawar

Authors
  1. Jodie Whelan
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  2. Niraj Dawar
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Correspondence to Jodie Whelan.

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Whelan, J., Dawar, N. Attributions of blame following a product-harm crisis depend on consumers’ attachment styles. Mark Lett 27, 285–294 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-014-9340-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-014-9340-z

Keywords

  • Product-harm crisis
  • Attachment styles
  • Blame
  • Attributions
  • Brand relationships