On achieving exoneration after a product safety industrial crisis

Deals with the management of industrial crises, low‐probability, high‐impact events which typically affect companies involved in them, negatively. Specifically examines the role of three important factors, i.e. company’s reputation, the organizational response that it selects to adopt in order to deal with the crisis, and external effects that are faced during a product safety crisis. Emphasis is placed on determining the effects of an industrial crisis (caused by a harmful product) on the consumers’ attributions of company responsibility. It is shown that high reputation companies have generally an easier time dealing with industrial crises. In addition, companies faced with positive external effects and having voluntarily recalled the defects, are held the least responsible for the harm by consumers. Managerial implications are presented for high and low reputation companies involved in product safety crises, with emphasis placed on crisis prevention rather than mere reaction to it.