Too cute to be bad? Cute brand logo reduces consumer punishment following brand transgressions

Research on brand transgressions has suggested that when a brand is involved in a transgression and perceived as harmful, consumers will punish the brand. The present research seeks to extend this literature by investigating how having a cute brand logo may reduce consumer punishment of a transgressing brand. Across five experimental studies, this research shows that a brand logo with high (vs. low) levels of cuteness associated with a transgressing brand can motivate consumers to protect the brand from harm, thus reducing consumer punishment of that brand. Notably, such motivations to protect the brand are driven by an incremental belief about the brand’s development. Moreover, the cuteness effect is attenuated in the case of repeated transgressions. Theoretical contributions to the literature on cuteness, brand logo, and brand transgression are discussed, as well as practical implications.     

When Ethical Transgressions of Customers Have Beneficial Long-Term Effects in Retailing: An Empirical Investigation

The conventional wisdom, grounded in deontological ethics, is that retailers should extinguish unethical customer behavior. However, there exists an opposing teleological view that unethical behavior may be tolerated if its ultimate consequences are beneficial for all stakeholders. This is supported by a survey of retail managers conducted by the authors that revealed over 80% of the respondents are inclined to tolerate unethical customers whose actions have beneficial effects. The primary goal of this research is to investigate the boundaries of this teleological perspective, that is, whether ethical transgressions that appear to have negative short-term consequences for the retailer and other ethical customers can have beneficial longer-term consequences for all parties. We examine this question empirically with a longitudinal dataset, covering seventy weeks and over 48,000 accounts, from a popular Swiss online retailer. We focus on increased revenues and customer engagement as the benefit for the retailer. Our results show that customers registering multiple accounts in violation of the retailer’s policy comprise fewer than 11.5% of accounts, yet generate more than 27.6% of the retailer’s revenue. Specifically, their behavior leads to higher retailer revenues and greater engagement by other customers in the long-run. We discuss the implications of this insight for retailing managers as well as scholars.     

Consumers’ forgiveness after brand transgression: the effect of the firm’s corporate social responsibility and response

Abstract

In this article we examine the interplay between the severity of a brand transgression, consumers’ prior awareness of the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and the firm’s response (apology vs. apologia) on the rates of forgiveness among consumers. Results of two experiments show that consumers’ prior awareness of the firm’s CSR initiatives significantly differentiates apologia from apology, with the effect of apology on consumer forgiveness being more apparent when brand transgression severity is mild. Results also show that consumer forgiveness mediates the effect of brand transgression severity, firm response, and consumer awareness on repurchase intentions. In this way, the study enables managers to determine whether or not an apology or apologia will be sufficient to solicit consumer forgiveness, using information about the levels of awareness of CSR among consumers.     

Climbing Monsters: Excess and Restraint in Contemporary Rock Climbing

Abstract

The tension in rock climbing between technical aspects of performance that do not involve risk, and preparedness to put oneself in considerable and even life‐threatening danger, is explored through an analysis of extreme gritstone climbing in the late 1990s recorded in a successful ‘cult’ film Hard Grit. The film dramatises self‐imposed danger, and connects it to the history and myths of gritstone climbing, an emphasis best seen as a specific moment in the oscillation in climbing between the technical dimension (or bodily techne) and ‘bottle’ (spiritedness or thumos), but it has wider implications. The theoretical background is the Weberian theme of rationalisation qualified, however, by the social and cultural significance of imprudence, irresponsibility and deliberate transgression throughout the modern period. As late modernity reveals new consequences for societies and cultures beyond the reach of either comprehensive reason in a classical sense or a self‐imposed rational order along Enlightenment lines, the play of techne and thumos becomes potentially unlimited and thus monstrous. How, then, should climbers and their very loosely organised, minority pursuit, govern themselves? How can climbing remain authentic, true to itself? After an exploration of some theoretical aspects, the essay concludes more practically by proposing that two features of everyday rock climbing operate as ethical sources: confidence in sound judgment by the imagined future community of climbers; and a ‘phenomenological’ turn to the natural and sensory preconditions of climbing. These sources cannot, however, fully govern climbing culture but operate only in tension with fundamentally unruly impulses and drives.     

Power, Self-regulation and the Moralization of Behavior

The perception of behavior as a moral or conventional concern can be influenced by contextual variables, including status and power differences. We propose that social processes and in particular social role enactment through the exercise of power will psychologically motivate moralization. Punishing or rewarding others creates a moral dilemma that can be resolved by externalizing causation to incontrovertible moral rules. Legitimate power related to structure and position can carry moral weight but may not influence the power holder’s perceptions of rules and general norms of behavior. Social identity theory suggests moralization could be promoted by a concern for shared, defining values. However, the tendency to moralize another’s behavior can be injurious to shared identity. We explored white-collar employees’ perceptions of several categories of noxious or deviant workplace behaviors and regressed these perceptions on the tendency to use legitimate, referent, or reward and punish power; social identity; and the interaction of social identity and power, in particular legitimate power. Only the tendency to influence others through punishment or reward predicted moralization. Alternative causal explanations for the findings were addressed through the absence of any relationships between punishment and reward power and perceptions of deviant behaviors as wrong, upsetting, or requiring punishment. We discuss these results in the context of self and social processes, the social construction of morals and power, and the impact of managers’ behavior on group or organizational ethics.     

中国证监会2010年度证券行政处罚分析报告

为了从实证角度评估我国证券行政处罚的工作绩效,本文对中国证监会2010年的全部证券行政处罚案件(含市场禁入案件),根据不同的统计维度进行了专项统计分析。首先,对2010年证券案件处理方式、行政处罚具体类型、处罚对象数和处罚金额、年度收案结案比率等进行了总体的比较分析。其次,根据2010年证券行政处罚案件的数据信息,从违法行为、违法主体、处罚金额分布、深沪公司处罚数据对比、深市主板中小板处罚数据对比等维度展开专项统计分析。再次,分析了相关国家和地区2010年证券行政处罚案件的基本概况,并与我国相关数据进行了初步对比分析。从总体情况来看,我国证券执法的水平与我国资本市场在国际上所处的地位是相符合的。最后,本文对2010年被查处的内幕交易案件进行了专项统计分析,并与相关国家和地区证券监管机构查处内幕交易案件的情况进行了比较。总体上看,中国证监会内幕交易案件执法的力度和效率都取得了显著提高。     

CPA越轨行为的诱因及其社会整合--基于社会学的理论分析框架

在现代资本市场中，注册会计师越轨行为已经不是表现为个别或者偶发现象，而成为一种规模性越轨。本文从社会学的角度，从人类本性论、社会失范论、文化结构论对注册会计师越轨行为的诱因进行了聚合分析，并针对各种诱因用社会整合的思路提出了对注册会计师行业整合的理论框架。     

The underdog trap: The moderating role of transgression type in forgiving underdog brands

This study aims to investigate the interactive effects of brand biography and brand transgression type on consumers’ forgiveness intention. Brand transgression is categorized as relational or nonrelational, with the former (compared to the latter) seriously undermining consumers’ high identification with underdog brands. Across four experimental studies in which transgression type is manipulated in three different ways, it is confirmed that when facing nonrelational transgressions, participants show greater forgiveness intention for underdog than for top‐dog brands. However, when facing relational transgressions, they do not show increased forgiveness intention for underdog brands compared to top‐dog brands. Moreover, perceived anger mediates the interaction effect between brand biography and brand transgression type on forgiveness intention. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.     

The effect of win-back investment on lost consumers’ intention of reinitiating relationship

This research studies the effect of win-back strategy on reinitiating brand-consumer relationship (BCR) by examining three commonly adopted strategies, namely apology, tangible reward, and privilege. Empirical findings demonstrate that these strategies have different effects on consumers’ intention of reinitiating relationship (CIRR). More specifically, whereas consumers will show positive CIRR if a transgression brand employs the strategies of apology, tangible reward and privilege, consumers’ perception of apology has the most significant effect. In addition, this study also tests the moderating role of brand relationship quality on CIRR. Results show that if the brand-relationship quality prior to brand transgression is high, win-back strategies will have more positive effects on CIRR, and vice versa.