IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bushor/v68y2025i2p165-180.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing contingent relationships with customers: Examining MNCs’ social media crises in Mainland China

Author

Listed:
  • Cheng, Yang
  • Jin, Weikai
  • Zhang, Kaijie
  • Bai, Xintong
  • Zhang, Yinghang
  • Shi, Binyuan

Abstract

This study seeks to tackle the challenges faced by multinational companies (MNCs) in managing their relationships with their customers, particularly in the context of negative events within marketing. To address these issues, the study investigates the contingent relationships between brands and their customers, and it draws on two pertinent social media crises involving Tesla and Mercedes-Benz, both prominent multinational automobile companies operating in mainland China. The research highlights the dynamic relationship process by tracking stances and relationship modes between brands and customers. Findings emphasize the influence of social media on crisis communication and the significance of cross-cultural factors in managing relationships in crises. The study enriches contingent organization-public relationships (COPRs) and contingency theories, offering theoretical insights and practical implications for effective crisis management, emphasizing the need for contingency-based strategies and cross-cultural understanding in corporate communication.

Suggested Citation

  • Cheng, Yang & Jin, Weikai & Zhang, Kaijie & Bai, Xintong & Zhang, Yinghang & Shi, Binyuan, 2025. "Managing contingent relationships with customers: Examining MNCs’ social media crises in Mainland China," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 165-180.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:68:y:2025:i:2:p:165-180
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2024.11.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681324001605
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bushor.2024.11.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:68:y:2025:i:2:p:165-180. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.