Empirical findings on brand personality and failure type on consumer forgiveness

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Empirical Findings on Brand Personality and Failure Type on Consumer Forgiveness

Impact of Brand Personality on Consumer Forgiveness

Warm vs. Competent Brand Personalities

Research indicates that a brand's dominant personality—whether perceived as warm or competent—significantly influences consumer forgiveness following a brand failure. Consumers tend to have different expectations based on the brand's personality. Interestingly, they are more likely to forgive a brand failure that violates their expectations rather than censure it, regardless of their prior relationship with the brand. This phenomenon is consistent across various brands and types of failures, suggesting that brand personality plays a crucial role in shaping consumer forgiveness.

Mediating Role of Brand Credibility

The interaction between brand personality and failure type is mediated by brand credibility. This means that the perceived credibility of a brand can influence how consumers process and forgive brand failures. Additionally, consumers' desire to re-evaluate the brand acts as a moderator in this relationship, further emphasizing the importance of brand personality in post-failure recovery.

Influence of Failure Type on Consumer Forgiveness

Service Failure Severity

The severity of a service failure significantly impacts consumer forgiveness. Severe failures generally lead to lower levels of forgiveness. However, this relationship is moderated by various psychological traits such as interpersonal attachment styles and thinking styles. For instance, a secure attachment style and holistic thinking can mitigate the negative impact of severe service failures on brand forgiveness, while an anxious attachment style and analytic thinking can amplify it.

Performance vs. Image and Value-Based Failures

Different types of brand transgressions—performance, image, and value-based—affect consumer forgiveness differently. Performance-based failures are more likely to be forgiven compared to image or value-based failures. The severity of the transgression also plays a critical role; more severe transgressions are less likely to be forgiven.

Psychological and Emotional Factors

Emotional Intelligence

Consumers' emotional intelligence significantly influences their likelihood to forgive a brand. Those with higher emotional intelligence are more likely to forgive brand failures, while those with lower emotional intelligence are less likely to do so. This suggests that emotional intelligence can be a critical factor in transforming brand haters into forgivers.

Narcissism and Self-Construal

Narcissistic traits also play a role in consumer forgiveness. Narcissistic rivalry, in particular, moderates the relationship between the type of transgression and blame attributions, affecting forgiveness intentions. Additionally, self-construal—whether independent or interdependent—moderates consumer reactions to brand transgressions. Consumers with independent self-construals are more forgiving when the brand has no control over the transgression, while those with interdependent self-construals are more forgiving when they have strong relationships with the brand, even if the brand is at fault .

Conclusion

The interplay between brand personality and failure type is complex and significantly influences consumer forgiveness. Warm and competent brand personalities elicit different consumer expectations, and brand credibility mediates the forgiveness process. The severity and type of failure, along with psychological traits such as emotional intelligence, narcissism, and self-construal, further shape consumer forgiveness. Understanding these dynamics can help brands develop more effective recovery strategies and maintain consumer trust post-failure.