Facebook Chatter during Food Industry Product Harm Crisis
Keywords:
image crisis, Unilever, product harm, brand, Facebook' social mediaAbstract
Product harm crisis can affect the reputation of the brand involved, particularly in the online social networks' era. To contribute to current literature on product harm in general and product harm in the food industry in particular, this study examined 6,894 Facebook discussions during the unfolding Unilever/Telma Salmonella-contaminated cereals 2016 crisis in Israel. The main goal of the study was to understand the extent to which discussions focused on the contaminated product versus the brands involved (measured by mentions of the cereal and the brands). During the three-month analysis, 2,894 conversations mentioned the contaminated product, followed by discussions of the role of "Unilever" (2,052) and "Telma" (1,897) in the crisis. While there were practically no conversations about the product or brands prior to the discussed communication crisis, a spike in the number of conversations occurred when the crisis started. The study attempts to help fill the gap in the literature on studies of social media during unfolding product harm crises. The analysis showcases the immediacy and severity of the damage for brands' image in the food industry in social media conversations during product harm crises.
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Muralidharan, S., Dillistone, K., & Shin, J. H. (2011). The Gulf Coast oil spill: Extending the theory of image restoration discourse to the realm of social media and beyond petroleum. Public Relations Review, 37(3), 226-232.
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Samuel-Azran, T., & Hayat, T. (2019). Online news recommendations credibility: The tie is mightier than the source. Comunicar, 27(60), 71-80. doi:10.3916/C60-2019-07
Shamir, O. (2017). Israel is too expensive for us? Political consumerism, public policy and entrepreneurship: the case of the cottage cheese boycott. Israel Affairs, 23(2), 324-341. doi:10.1080/13537121.2016.1274514
Siomkos, G. J., & Kurzbard, G. (1994). The hidden crisis in product-harm crisis management. European journal of marketing, 28(2), 30-41.
The Times of Israel. (2016, August 7). Unilever has license suspended for selling Salmonella-tainted cornflakes. Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/health-ministry-salmonella-tainted-cornflakes-plant-was-negligent/
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Unilever Israel. (2018). About Unilever Israel. Retrieved from https://www.unilever.co.il/about/who-we-are/about-unilever-israel/
Van Heerde, H., Helsen, K., & Dekimpe, M. G. (2007). The impact of a product-harm crisis on marketing effectiveness. Marketing Science, 26(2), 230-245.
Wei, J., Zhao, M., Wang, F., Cheng, P., & Zhao, D. (2016). An empirical study of the Volkswagen crisis in China: customers’ information processing and behavioral intentions. Risk analysis, 36(1), 114-129.
Benoit, W. L. (2000). Another visit to the theory of image restoration strategies. Communication Quarterly, 48(1), 40-43.
Benoit, W. L. (2008). Image restoration theory. The International Encyclopedia of Communication.
Borah, A., & Tellis, G. J. (2016). Halo (Spillover) Effects in Social Media: Do Product Recalls of One Brand Hurt or Help Rival Brands? Journal of Marketing Research, 53(2), 143-160. doi:10.1509/jmr.13.0009
Buzzilla. (2018). The Buzzilla Methodology. Retrieved from http://www.buzzilla.com/products/the-buzzilla-method/buzzillas-methodology/
Carroll, C. (2009). Defying a reputational crisis–Cadbury's salmonella scare: why are customers willing to forgive and forget? Corporate Reputation Review, 12(1), 64-82.
Champoux, V., Durgee, J., & McGlynn, L. (2012). Corporate Facebook pages: when “fans” attack. Journal of Business Strategy, 33(2), 22-30.
Cleeren, K., Dekimpe, M., & Helsen, K. (2008). Weathering product-harm crises. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(2), 262-270.
Cleeren, K., Dekimpe, M. G., & van Heerde, H. J. (2017). Marketing research on product-harm crises: a review, managerial implications, and an agenda for future research. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(5), 593-615. doi:10.1007/s11747-017-0558-1
Coombs, T., & Schmidt, L. (2000). An empirical analysis of image restoration: Texaco's racism crisis. Journal of Public Relations Research, 12(2), 163-178.
Cristal, M. (2014, October 19). A thousand faces: the food companies which control the market. Ynet. Retrieved from https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4581400,00.html
Dawar, N., & Pillutla, M. M. (2000). Impact of product-harm crises on brand equity: The moderating role of consumer expectations. Journal of Marketing Research, 37(2), 215-226. doi:DOI 10.1509/jmkr.37.2.215.18729
Dovrat-Meseritz, A. (2017, July 18). Year After Salmonella Crisis, Cereal Sales in Israel Still Ailing. Haaretz. Retrieved from https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/year-after-salmonella-crisis-israeli-cereal-sales-still-ailing-1.5494964
Eilert, M., Jayachandran, S., Kalaignanam, K., & Swartz, T. A. (2017). Does it pay to recall your product early? An empirical investigation in the automobile industry. Journal of Marketing, 81(3), 111-129.
Epstein, M. (2013, May 23). Israelis 'Like' Facebook More Than Any Other Nation. Haaretz. Retrieved from https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/.premium-israelis-like-facebook-more-than-other-nations-1.5268793
Frederick, E., & Pegoraro, A. (2018). Scandal in college basketball: A case study of image repair via Facebook. International Journal of Sport Communication, 11(3), 414-429.
Gensler, S., Volckner, F., Liu-Thompkins, Y., & Wiertz, C. (2013). Managing Brands in the Social Media Environment. Journal of interactive marketing, 27(4), 242-256. doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2013.09.004
Globes. (2016, July 29). Unilever Israel CEO: We didn't want to sow panic. Retrieved from http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-unilever-israel-ceo-we-didnt-want-to-sow-panic-1001142692
Grimmer, L. (2017). Is it so hard to say sorry? Revisiting image restoration theory in the context of Australian supermarkets. Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, 18, 17-32.
Hayat, T., Galily, Y., & Samuel-Azran, T. (2019). Can celebrity athletes burst the echo chamber bubble? The case of LeBron James and Lady Gaga. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 1012690219855913.
Hayat, T., & Hershkovitz, A. (2018). The role social cues play in mediating the effect of eWOM over purchasing intentions: An exploratory analysis among university students. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 17(3), 173-187.
Hayat, T., Hershkovitz, A., & Samuel-Azran, T. (2019). The independent reinforcement effect: The role diverse social ties play in the credibility assessment process. Public Understanding of Science, 28(2), 201-217.
Hayat, T., & Samuel-Azran, T. (2017). “You too, Second Screeners?” Second Screeners’ Echo Chambers During the 2016 US Elections Primaries. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 61(2), 291-308.
Hayat, T., Samuel-Azran, T., & Galily, Y. (2016). Al-Jazeera Sport’s US Twitter followers: sport-politics nexus? Online information review, 40(6), 785-797.
Hayut, I. (2016, July 31). Telma cereal sales down 30% after salmonella scare. . Globes. Retrieved from http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-unilever-israel-cereal-sales-down-30-after-salmonella-scare-1001143027
Hendel, I., Lach, S., & Spiegel, Y. (2015). Consumers' Activism: The Facebook boycott of Cottage Cheese.
Hershkovitz, S. (2017). “Not Buying Cottage Cheese”: Motivations for Consumer Protest-the Case of the 2011 Protest in Israel. Journal of Consumer Policy, 40(4), 473-484.
Hsu, L. W., & Lawrence, B. (2016). The role of social media and brand equity during a product recall crisis: A shareholder value perspective. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 33(1), 59-76. doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2015.04.004
Internet world stats. (2017). Internet Usage in the Middle East. Retrieved from https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats5.htm
Jerusalem Post. (2014, October 6). From Tel Aviv to Berlin: social media takes notice of Israel supermarket prices, again. Retrieved from https://www.jpost.com/Business/From-Berlin-to-Tel-Aviv-Social-media-takes-notice-of-Israeli-super-market-prices-again-378137
Ketter, E. (2016). Destination image restoration on facebook: The case study of Nepal's Gurkha Earthquake. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 28, 66-72.
Laufer, D., & Coombs, W. T. (2006). How should a company respond to a product harm crisis? The role of corporate reputation and consumer-based cues. Business Horizons, 49(5), 379-385.
Muralidharan, S., Dillistone, K., & Shin, J. H. (2011). The Gulf Coast oil spill: Extending the theory of image restoration discourse to the realm of social media and beyond petroleum. Public Relations Review, 37(3), 226-232.
Pace, S., Gistri, G., & Corciolani, M. (2016). Exploring the palm oil crisis through the lens of different social media: an analysis of facebook, youtube and twitter contents. Mercati e competitività, 4(4), 43-64.
Ready, D., & Peebles, M. E. (2015). Developing the next generation of enterprise leaders. MIT Sloan Management Review, 57(1), 43.
Samuel-Azran, T., & Hayat, T. (2019). Online news recommendations credibility: The tie is mightier than the source. Comunicar, 27(60), 71-80. doi:10.3916/C60-2019-07
Shamir, O. (2017). Israel is too expensive for us? Political consumerism, public policy and entrepreneurship: the case of the cottage cheese boycott. Israel Affairs, 23(2), 324-341. doi:10.1080/13537121.2016.1274514
Siomkos, G. J., & Kurzbard, G. (1994). The hidden crisis in product-harm crisis management. European journal of marketing, 28(2), 30-41.
The Times of Israel. (2016, August 7). Unilever has license suspended for selling Salmonella-tainted cornflakes. Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/health-ministry-salmonella-tainted-cornflakes-plant-was-negligent/
Unilever. (2018). About Unilever. Retrieved from https://www.unilever.com/about/who-we-are/about-Unilever/
Unilever Israel. (2018). About Unilever Israel. Retrieved from https://www.unilever.co.il/about/who-we-are/about-unilever-israel/
Van Heerde, H., Helsen, K., & Dekimpe, M. G. (2007). The impact of a product-harm crisis on marketing effectiveness. Marketing Science, 26(2), 230-245.
Wei, J., Zhao, M., Wang, F., Cheng, P., & Zhao, D. (2016). An empirical study of the Volkswagen crisis in China: customers’ information processing and behavioral intentions. Risk analysis, 36(1), 114-129.
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