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Branding Disaster: Reestablishing Trust through the Ideological Containment of Systemic Risk Anxieties

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  • Ashlee Humphreys
  • Craig J. Thompson

Abstract

Drawing from literary criticism and institutional theory, this article analyzes the public discourse surrounding the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989 and BP Gulf Spill of 2010. While industrial accidents such as oil spills can erode consumers' trust in experts, a macrolevel analysis reveals that media coverage of such events ultimately contains the anxieties that are sparked by initial news coverage. The brandcentric disaster myths generated by media coverage frame public discourse in ways that help to reestablish consumers' trust in expert systems while also insulating corporations and governmental institutions from more systematic critiques. This analysis contributes to a macrolevel theorization of the institutional and ideological structures that shape consumers' risk perceptions and just world beliefs. It also extends prior accounts of cultural branding by identifying a set of ideological effects that operate in concert with the more commonly discussed therapeutic benefits afforded by marketplace myths.

Suggested Citation

  • Ashlee Humphreys & Craig J. Thompson, 2014. "Branding Disaster: Reestablishing Trust through the Ideological Containment of Systemic Risk Anxieties," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(4), pages 877-910.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:41:y:2014:i:4:p:877-910.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1086/677905
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    Cited by:

    1. Cherrier, Hélène & Türe, Meltem, 2022. "Blame work and the scapegoating mechanism in market status-quo," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1207-1217.
    2. Christian H. Koch, 2020. "Brands as activists: The Oatly case," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(5), pages 593-606, September.
    3. Ateeq Abdul Rauf, 2021. "New Moralities for New Media? Assessing the Role of Social Media in Acts of Terror and Providing Points of Deliberation for Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 229-251, May.
    4. Stefano Pace & Matteo Corciolani & Giacomo Gistri, 2017. "Consumers? responses to ethical brand crises on social media platforms," MERCATI & COMPETITIVIT?, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(1), pages 141-157.
    5. Mangiò, Federico & Mismetti, Marco & Lissana, Elena & Andreini, Daniela, 2023. "That's the Press, Baby! How journalists co-create family business brands meanings: A mixed method analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    6. Annamaria Tuan & Sebastiano Grandi, 2018. "Emerging trends in qualitative research. A focus on Social Media," MERCATI & COMPETITIVIT?, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(4), pages 17-26.
    7. Christian H. Koch, 0. "Brands as activists: The Oatly case," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-14.
    8. Lei Huang, 2023. "A moderation of business misdeeds on corporate remedy strategies," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 21-31, March.
    9. Hansen, Torben, 2022. "Consumer food sustainability before and during the Covid-19 Crisis: A quantitative content analysis and food policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    10. Giana M. Eckhardt & Susan Dobscha, 2019. "The Consumer Experience of Responsibilization: The Case of Panera Cares," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 651-663, October.
    11. Slater, Stephanie & Demangeot, Catherine, 2021. "Marketer acculturation to diversity needs: The case of modest fashion across two multicultural contexts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 702-715.
    12. Huff, Aimee Dinnin & Barnhart, Michelle, 2022. "UNRAVEL-ing gnarly knots: A path for researching market-entangled wicked social problems," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 717-727.
    13. Darren W Dahl & Eileen Fischer & Gita V Johar & Vicki G Morwitz, 2017. "Making Sense from (Apparent) Senselessness: The JCR Lens," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(4), pages 719-723.
    14. Hong, Soonkwan & Vicdan, Handan, 2016. "Re-imagining the utopian: Transformation of a sustainable lifestyle in ecovillages," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 120-136.
    15. Bajde, Domen & Chelekis, Jessica & van Dalen, Arjen, 2022. "The megamarketing of microfinance: Developing and maintaining an industry aura of virtue," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 134-155.
    16. Stephanie Slater & Catherine Demangeot, 2021. "Marketer acculturation to diversity needs: The case of modest fashion across two multicultural contexts," Post-Print hal-03600360, HAL.
    17. Domen Bajde, 2019. "Branding an industry?," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(5), pages 497-504, September.
    18. Steven Chen, 2023. "A counterinsurgent (COIN) framework to defend against consumer activists," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 30(4), pages 275-301, July.
    19. Misbah Saboohi, 2020. "Exploring the Compensation Plans Under International Laws from Offshore Oil Facilities and Relationship between Oil Production, Trade and Carbon Emission: An Evidence from Global Economy," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(3), pages 265-273.
    20. Aleksandrina Atanasova & Giana M Eckhardt & Katharina C Husemann, 2024. "Liquid Consumer Security," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 50(6), pages 1243-1264.
    21. Sandikci, Ozlem & Jafari, Aliakbar & Fischer, Eileen, 2024. "Claiming market ownership: Territorial activism in stigmatized markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    22. Wiart, Lucie & Özçağlar-Toulouse, Nil & Shaw, Deirdre, 2022. "Maintaining market legitimacy: A discursive-hegemonic perspective on meat," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 391-402.
    23. Zanette, Maria Carolina & Brito, Eliane Pereira Zamith & Fontenelle, Isleide Arruda & de Camargo Heck, Marina, 2021. "Eating one’s own otherness: When producers commercialize their ethnicities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 134-144.
    24. Tierney, Kieran D. & Oswald Karpen, Ingo & Westberg, Kate, 2022. "Brand meaning and institutional work: The light and dark sides of service employee practices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 244-256.
    25. Virginie Schweitzer & Françoise Simon, 2021. "Self-construals as the locus of paradoxical consumer empowerment in self-service retail technology environments," Post-Print hal-03110766, HAL.

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