Saudi Journal of Business and Management Studies (SJBMS)
Volume-2 | Issue-12 | 1054-1058
Original Research Article
Consumers’ Recognition and Response towards Product Harm Crises: A Case Study of Sri Lankan Young Consumers
H.M.P.M. Dayarathne, G.C. Samaraweera
Published : Dec. 30, 2017
Abstract
Product harm crises are devastating events in companies. They
negatively effect on organizations and society. Present study was an attempt to
investigate how consumers recognize such crisis situation and their repurchasing
behavior. Ninety of undergraduates of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of
Ruhuna were selected for the study by stratified random sampling technique.
Yoghurt was taken as the main product category. A self-administrated, case-study
based, seven point Likert scale survey questionnaire was employed to collect
relevant data for the study. Data analysis was monitored by SPSS and descriptive
analytical tools. Results showed that 62% of the respondents identified product
harm crisis as a company fault, while 48.3% of sample identified it as a brand
fault. Moreover, 36.67% of them recognized it as a consumer fault. In addition,
56.7% of the respondents were not going to repurchase the crisis brand and, 47.7%
of the sample was not willing to pay for the crisis brand in future. However, 35%
of the respondents were mentioned that the past brand performance is important
when re-purchasing the brand after a crisis situation and, 40.03% of the sample
stated that such crises will not negatively impact on the brand trust that they have
been already built. Furthermore, 46.67% of the sample expected a compensation
for the experienced crisis, while 32.2% of them demanding recompense more than
the price of yoghurt. The study suggested the best strategy is to avoid productharm crises by implementing very careful business processes with sufficient
checks and balances without harming the consumers. Moreover, as consumers
willing to have compensation for the crisis, and the majority mentioned that the
company is accused for the crises, compensating aggrieved parties is the most
appropriate remedy for such situations.