IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ijrema/v27y2010i2p164-174.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In stories we trust: How narrative apologies provide cover for competitive vulnerability after integrity-violating blog posts

Author

Listed:
  • van Laer, Tom
  • de Ruyter, Ko

Abstract

Consumers' confidence in companies has fallen due to recent and widespread violations of integrity and consumers' voicing of discontent in weblog (blog) posts. Current research on integrity restoration offers little guidance regarding appropriate responses. We posit that not only what (with which content) but also how (in which format) the company responds, contributes to an effective restoration of integrity and a reduction of consumers' intentions to switch. The results of Study 1 show that the combination of denial content and analytical format as well as apologetic content and narrative format works better than combinations of opposing response content and format. Comparing narrative apologies and denials in two consecutive studies, we demonstrate that the concept of “transportation”—the engrossing effect of a narrative—is the mechanism underlying narrative-based integrity restoration. We further assess in Study 2 how the use of empathy accounts for higher levels of transportation and perceived integrity. In Study 3, we establish that a personal response by the involved employee is more effective than a response issued by the company's spokesperson. Consumers trust in stories from the involved employee.

Suggested Citation

  • van Laer, Tom & de Ruyter, Ko, 2010. "In stories we trust: How narrative apologies provide cover for competitive vulnerability after integrity-violating blog posts," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 164-174.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ijrema:v:27:y:2010:i:2:p:164-174
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2009.12.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167811610000200
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2009.12.010?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Winterbottom, Anna & Bekker, Hilary L. & Conner, Mark & Mooney, Andrew, 2008. "Does narrative information bias individual's decision making? A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2079-2088, December.
    2. Jennifer Edson Escalas, 2007. "Self-Referencing and Persuasion: Narrative Transportation versus Analytical Elaboration," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(4), pages 421-429, December.
    3. Kristine de Valck & Roberts V. Kozinets & Andrea C. Wojnicki & Sarah J.S. Wilner, 2010. "Networked Narratives: Understanding Word-of-Mouth Marketing in Online Communities," Post-Print hal-00458424, HAL.
    4. Petty, Richard E & Cacioppo, John T & Schumann, David, 1983. "Central and Peripheral Routes to Advertising Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Involvement," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 10(2), pages 135-146, September.
    5. Joseph Farrell & Matthew Rabin, 1996. "Cheap Talk," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 103-118, Summer.
    6. James C. Ward & Amy L. Ostrom, 2006. "Complaining to the Masses: The Role of Protest Framing in Customer-Created Complaint Web Sites," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(2), pages 220-230, July.
    7. Escalas, Jennifer Edson & Stern, Barbara B, 2003. "Sympathy and Empathy: Emotional Responses to Advertising Dramas," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 29(4), pages 566-578, March.
    8. Urban, Glen L. & Amyx, Cinda & Lorenzon, Antonio, 2009. "Online Trust: State of the Art, New Frontiers, and Research Potential," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 179-190.
    9. Kim, Peter H. & Dirks, Kurt T. & Cooper, Cecily D. & Ferrin, Donald L., 2006. "When more blame is better than less: The implications of internal vs. external attributions for the repair of trust after a competence- vs. integrity-based trust violation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 49-65, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. van Laer, Tom & de Ruyter, Ko & Cox, David, 2013. "A Walk in Customers' Shoes: How Attentional Bias Modification Affects Ownership of Integrity-violating Social Media Posts," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 14-27.
    2. Dessart, Laurence & Pitardi, Valentina, 2019. "How stories generate consumer engagement: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 183-195.
    3. Yap, Kenneth B. & Soetarto, Budi & Sweeney, Jillian C., 2013. "The relationship between electronic word-of-mouth motivations and message characteristics: The sender’s perspective," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 66-74.
    4. Boukis, Achilleas, 2023. "Storytelling in initial coin offerings: Attracting investment or gaining referrals?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    5. Pappas, Nikolaos, 2016. "Marketing strategies, perceived risks, and consumer trust in online buying behaviour," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 92-103.
    6. Park, Meungguk & Turner, Brian A. & Pastore, Donna L., 2008. "Effective Public Service Advertisements to Attract Volunteers for the Special Olympics: An Elaboration Likelihood Perspective," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 165-192, September.
    7. Purnawirawan, Nathalia & De Pelsmacker, Patrick & Dens, Nathalie, 2012. "Balance and Sequence in Online Reviews: How Perceived Usefulness Affects Attitudes and Intentions," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 244-255.
    8. Ku, Hsuan-Hsuan & Shang, Rong-An & Fu, Yi-Fan, 2021. "Social learning effects of complaint handling on social media: Self-construal as a moderator," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Zhou, Shuang & Blazquez, Marta & McCormick, Helen & Barnes, Liz, 2021. "How social media influencers’ narrative strategies benefit cultivating influencer marketing: Tackling issues of cultural barriers, commercialised content, and sponsorship disclosure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 122-142.
    10. Spielmann, Nathalie & Mantonakis, Antonia, 2018. "In virtuo: How user-driven interactivity in virtual tours leads to attitude change," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 255-264.
    11. Hofacker, Charles F. & de Ruyter, Ko & Lurie, Nicholas H. & Manchanda, Puneet & Donaldson, Jeff, 2016. "Gamification and Mobile Marketing Effectiveness," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 25-36.
    12. Bi, Qingqing & Boh, Wai Fong & Christopoulos, Georgios, 2021. "Trust, fast and slow: A comparison study of the trust behaviors of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(6).
    13. Angshuman Ghosh & Sanjeev Varshney & Pingali Venugopal, 2014. "Social Media WOM: Definition, Consequences and Inter-relationships," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 39(3), pages 293-308, August.
    14. Schniter, Eric & Sheremeta, Roman M. & Sznycer, Daniel, 2013. "Building and rebuilding trust with promises and apologies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 242-256.
    15. Keller, Kevin Lane, 2010. "Brand Equity Management in a Multichannel, Multimedia Retail Environment," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 58-70.
    16. Dirks, Kurt T. & Kim, Peter H. & Ferrin, Donald L. & Cooper, Cecily D., 2011. "Understanding the effects of substantive responses on trust following a transgression," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 87-103, March.
    17. Eric Schniter & Roman M. Sheremeta & Daniel Sznycer, 2011. "Restoring Damaged Trust with Promises, Atonement and Apology," Working Papers 11-18, Chapman University, Economic Science Institute.
    18. Kim, Jae-Eun & Lloyd, Stephen & Cervellon, Marie-Cécile, 2016. "Narrative-transportation storylines in luxury brand advertising: Motivating consumer engagement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 304-313.
    19. Gilliam, David A. & Zablah, Alex R., 2013. "Storytelling during retail sales encounters," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 488-494.
    20. Gensler, Sonja & Völckner, Franziska & Liu-Thompkins, Yuping & Wiertz, Caroline, 2013. "Managing Brands in the Social Media Environment," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 242-256.

    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:ijrema:v:27:y:2010:i:2:p:164-174. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-research-in-marketing/ .

    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.