Exploring organizational crises from a legitimation perspective: Results from a computer simulation and illustrative cases

Organizational crises are rare, yet they fundamentally influence the evolution of organizations. An aspect of crises deserving more attention is the interaction of organizations and their stakeholders during a crisis from a legitimation perspective. This paper presents a simulation model mapping causal relationships behind this interaction. Results suggest that the nature and timing of organizational response to crises has considerable effect on the success and duration of attempts of regaining organizational legitimacy after a threatening event. Illustrative case studies demonstrate how several organizations have been (un-)successful in overcoming individual crises with respect to these influences

Residuales organisationales Commitment: Ein konzeptioneller Ansatz zur Erweiterung der Bindungsforschung

Organizational commitment of employees towards their employer is highly relevant for both the committed individual as well as the organization. Positive effects on task performance and job satisfaction as well as the reduction of absenteeism and turnover increase organizational competitiveness. Despite extensive research efforts, details of the development of OC remain largely unexplored, particularly with regards to differences at the person level. The aim of this paper is to deduce propositions on the role of residual commitment within this context. Based on the assumption that commitment does not necessarily end when organizational membership does, we posit that residual affective and residual normative commitment towards former organizations form competitive relationships with current commitment. Closer investigation of such parallel commitments may help explain inconclusive results of earlier studies investigating antecedents of OC. Finally, implications for research on organizational commitment and socialization will be discussed

Opinion-leading silver surfers in the UK: a personality-based approach to managing negative electronic WOM

The purpose of this study is to investigate the diffusion of negative opinions over the Internet in relation to specific personality antecedents (i.e. Altruism, Need for uniqueness, Self-confidence) and communication outcomes (i.e. Overall satisfaction, E-complaint-propensity). Based on an online survey consisting of 2,393 e-consumers aged 50+, the present research methodology uses Structural Equation Modelling to verify the proposed conceptual relationships. Findings confirm the positive influence of online opinion-leaders on the propensity to spread negative e-WOM and demonstrate the importance of personality characteristics as means to influence negative online opinion-diffusion. Importantly, negative e-WOM was further found to reduce consumers' overall satisfaction and to possibly occur in addition to direct e-complaining. This research therefore is the first to empirically establish the concept of negative Opinion-leadership in an online context and in relation to e-consumers above 50, in addition to proposing a novel, personality-based model of negative online opinion diffusion. For marketing practitioners, this study emphasises the importance of negative online opinion-leaders as a target group that requires distinct communication strategies. Marketing and complaint mangers are recommended to appeal to specific personality traits in order to prevent negative online opinion-cascades and possibly encourage direct complaints

Calibrating 30 years of experimental research: a meta-analysis of the atmospheric effects of music, scent, and color

Atmospheric in-store stimuli have been the subject of considerable empirical investigation for over 30 years. This research presents a meta-analysis of 66 studies and 135 effects (N = 15,621) calibrating the atmospheric effects of music, scent, and color on shopping outcomes. At anaggregate level, the results reveal that environments in which music or scent are present yield higher pleasure, satisfaction, and behavioral intentionratings when compared with environments in which such conditions are absent. Warm colors produce higher levels of arousal than cool colors,while cool colors produce higher levels of satisfaction than warm colors. The estimated average strength of these relationships ranged from smallto medium. Effect sizes exhibited significant between-study variance, which can be partly explained by the moderators investigated. For instance,larger effect sizes were observed for the relationship between scent and pleasure in those samples with a higher (vs. lower) proportion of females.Data also indicated a tendency toward stronger music and scent effects in service settings as compared to retail settings. The results of this analysis,based on data aggregated across the research stream, offer retailers a guide to enhance customers’ shopping experience through judicious use ofin-store atmospheric stimuli.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Organizational crises and reactions from a legitimacy perspective : results from two multiple case studies

>Organizational crises can be conceptualized as interactions between organizations and stake-holders around the breach and reestablishment of common norms and social codes, i.e. per-ceptions of legitimacy. This paper contributes to the understanding of organizational crises by exploring the roles of dimensions of legitimacy in organizational crises as well as the role of different reactions in the resolution of crises. Results of two qualitative multiple-case studies based on analyses of media reports are presented. They suggest that crises are indeed charac-terized by a loss in legitimacy, the specific dimensions depending on the type of crisis. More-over, results support the notion that the type as well as the timing of organizational reactions to crises is relevant to the effective handling of threatening events

Linking organizational crises and reactive strategies via dimensions of legitimacy

Research on organizational crises has typically focused on case studies or measures for crisis prevention, while the social dimension of crises has remained largely unexplored. In some rare exceptions, differences in the efficacy of reactive strategies depending on the type of crisis have been reported. However, the mechanisms behind these differences remain unclear. This paper aims to fill this gap by arguing that organizational crises and effective reactions are linked by different dimensions of legitimacy perceived by stakeholders. To this end, after elaborating on the role of legitimacy in organizational crises, typologies of crises as well as reactive strategies are presented, accompanied by propositions about possible links

Groupthink 2.0: An empirical analysis of customers' conformity-seeking in online communities

Online communities have witnessed an ongoing interest from both digital practitioners and scholars alike. Whilst the motives for and outcomes of customers' participation have been convincingly evidenced, there is a lack of conceptual and empirical understanding on the decision-making processes within virtual groups. This study employs Janis' (1972) Groupthink theory to investigate customers' tendency to conform when making decisions in a financial online community. Based on a sample of 343 respondents and multiple regression analysis, it is shown that perceived stress and group insulation have a positive influence upon Groupthink, whilst group cohesion has a negative effect. The findings support the applicability of Groupthink theory in an online context and emphasise defective social decision-making processes in online communities as a key priority for future research. Digital marketers gain insight on strategies to manage their customers' conformity-seeking tendencies and to prevent dysfunctional decision-making processes

Consumer-to-Consumer Conflicts and Brand Moderation Strategies During COVID-19 Service Failures: A Framework for International Marketers

Purpose: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one dark social-media phenomenon in particular has experienced a significant rise: consumer-to-consumer (C2C) conflicts, i.e., consumers who verbally attack each other in response to COVID-19 service failures. The aim of this paper is to uncover the sources of such conflicts and to gain an insight into the corresponding conflict moderation strategies that international brands adopt. Design/Methodology/Approach: Our methodology consists of non-participatory netnographic observations of 13 online brand communities (OBCs) on Facebook, using a purposeful sampling approach and a hybrid thematic analysis. Findings: The paper identifies five C2C conflict sources: brand attack, brand dissatisfaction, brand skepticism, brand contention, and brand defense; these are then classified as having either an individualistic (self-oriented) or collectivistic (other-oriented) orientation. We also uncover several moderation strategies: non-engaging, automated, bolstering, asserting (direct, indirect), and informing (factual, empathetic, apologetic), which are broadly categorized into two levels based on their passive versus active approach and authoritative versus cooperative orientation. The paper further highlights that brands adapt their moderation strategies to specific sources of C2C conflicts, thereby producing a range of OBC outcomes. Originality: We offer a novel framework to international marketing research, consisting of C2C conflict sources and corresponding moderation strategies that take place in response to service failures during the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights, in turn, inform international marketers about new ways of transforming the dark side of OBCs into a source of competitive advantage based on real-world brand practice. Practical implications: Our empirically informed framework comprising sources of undesirable C2C conflict and brand moderation strategies offers a practical tool that can aid marketing managers in nurturing civil customer-to-customer engagement and interactive behaviors in their OBCs. By adopting our framework, brand and marketing practitioners can tailor their communication strategies towards different sources of C2C conflict and minimize their adverse consequences, thus, fostering an overall constructive OBC engagement