'To trust or not to trust': The impact of social media influencers on the reputation of corporate brands in crisis

Corporates often partner with social media influencers to bolster brand image after crises. Although existing evidence suggests that influencers have a largely positive effect on brands, yet there is paucity of research on the role of influencers in corporate crisis communications. Across two studies, we examine the impact of influencers on consumers’ perception of corporate brand in crisis. Drawing on persuasion knowledge theory, we identify pitfalls associated with influencers, such as inferences of manipulative intent, which negatively affect perceived trustworthiness and corporate reputation. The downside of engaging influencers in crisis communications can, however, be offset by influencer and the brand communicating values-driven motives of their partnership. Our findings imply that corporate brands should respond to crises through a bolstering strategy that promotes existing corporate goodwill, without influencer’s involvement. When leveraging on influencers’ support, however, brands should endeavor to inoculate manipulative inferences by communicating the values-driven motives behind the brand-influencer partnership

'To trust or not to trust': The impact of social media influencers on the reputation of corporate brands in crisis

Corporates often partner with social media influencers to bolster brand image after crises. Although existing evidence suggests that influencers have a largely positive effect on brands, yet there is paucity of research on the role of influencers in corporate crisis communications. Across two studies, we examine the impact of influencers on consumers’ perception of corporate brand in crisis. Drawing on persuasion knowledge theory, we identify pitfalls associated with influencers, such as inferences of manipulative intent, which negatively affect perceived trustworthiness and corporate reputation. The downside of engaging influencers in crisis communications can, however, be offset by influencer and the brand communicating values-driven motives of their partnership. Our findings imply that corporate brands should respond to crises through a bolstering strategy that promotes existing corporate goodwill, without influencer’s involvement. When leveraging on influencers’ support, however, brands should endeavor to inoculate manipulative inferences by communicating the values-driven motives behind the brand-influencer partnership

Using the isabelle ontology framework: Linking the formal with the informal

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this recordWhile Isabelle is mostly known as part of Isabelle/HOL (an interactive theorem prover), it actually provides a framework for developing a wide spectrum of applications. A particular strength of the Isabelle framework is the combination of text editing, formal verification, and code generation. Up to now, Isabelle’s document preparation system lacks a mechanism for ensuring the structure of different document types (as, e.g., required in certification processes) in general and, in particular, mechanism for linking informal and formal parts of a document. In this paper, we present Isabelle/DOF, a novel Document Ontology Framework on top of Isabelle. Isabelle/DOF allows for conventional typesetting as well as formal development. We show how to model document ontologies inside Isabelle/DOF, how to use the resulting meta-information for enforcing a certain document structure, and discuss ontology-specific IDE support

How intensity of cause-related marketing guilt appeals influences consumers - The roles of company motive and consumer identification with the brand

This study investigates the role of guilt appeal intensity in cause marketing advertising. Employing an experiment, the study reveals that guilt appeals in cause marketing communications are effective at fostering positive corporate image perceptions when low in intensity. Low intensity appeals stimulate consumer-company identification and lower inferences of negative motives of the company, both contributing to shaping perceptions of corporate image perceptions and purchase intentions. The study extends advertising research on the efficacy of low intensity guilt appeals in cause marketing advertising. Crucially, it advances knowledge on the psychological processes underlying consumer responses to guilt appeals in cause marketing advertising

Ischemic preconditioning of the muscle reduces the metaboreflex response of the knee extensors

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of ischemic preconditioning (IP) on metaboreflex activation following dynamic leg extension exercise in a group of healthy participants. Method: Seventeen healthy participants were recruited. IP and SHAM treatments (3 × 5 min cuff occlusion at 220 mmHg or 20 mmHg, respectively) were administered in a randomized order to the upper part of exercising leg’s thigh only. Muscle pain intensity (MP) and pain pressure threshold (PPT) were monitored while administrating IP and SHAM treatments. After 3 min of leg extension exercise at 70% of the maximal workload, a post-exercise muscle ischemia (PEMI) was performed to monitor the discharge group III/IV muscle afferents via metaboreflex activation. Hemodynamics were continuously recorded. MP was monitored during exercise and PEMI. Results: IP significantly reduced mean arterial pressure compared to SHAM during metaboreflex activation (mean ± SD, 109.52 ± 7.25 vs. 102.36 ± 7.89 mmHg) which was probably the consequence of a reduced end diastolic volume (mean ± SD, 113.09 ± 14.25 vs. 102.42 ± 9.38 ml). MP was significantly higher during the IP compared to SHAM treatment, while no significant differences in PPT were found. MP did not change during exercise, but it was significantly lower during the PEMI following IP (5.10 ± 1.29 vs. 4.00 ± 1.54). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that IP reduces hemodynamic response during metaboreflex activation, while no effect on MP and PPT were found. The reduction in hemodynamic response was likely the consequence of a blunted venous return

The role of brand equity and crisis type on corporate brand alliances in crises

Co-branding is regarded as a beneficial corporate branding strategy. Corporate crises can, however, result in one or both brands damaging customer-firm relationships. Research evidence in the area is sparse and shows that the non-culpable partner is negatively influenced by crises when perceived as being aware of the wrongdoing. Extending prior research, we investigate how brand equity of the non-culpable partner shapes consumers’ post-crisis attitudes. We also examine boundary conditions to the brand equity effect. Drawing on expectancy violation theory, we show that high-equity of the non-culpable partner mitigates the negative effects of accidental crises, whilst low-equity can mitigate preventable crises. In preventable crises, non-culpable partner brands enjoying high equity suffer from negative attitudes accruing from the culpable brand in the alliance. The results suggest that managers should use corporate co-branding with caution, carefully evaluating the partner brand’s equity and its effects when planning for and managing crisis situations

Resummation of Cactus Diagrams in Lattice QCD

We show how to perform a resummation, to all orders in perturbation theory, of a certain class of gauge invariant diagrams in Lattice QCD. These diagrams are often largely responsible for lattice artifacts. Our resummation leads to an improved perturbative expansion. Applied to a number of cases of interest, this expansion yields results remarkably close to corresponding nonperturbative estimates.Comment: 18 page