Effects of Food Industry Crises on Consumer Attitudes

In recent years, issues and events related to food safety and health, including the adulteration of milk with melamine, the labeling of trans-fatty acids and the bleaching of shark fins, have severely damaged the reputation of the food organization. When these crises occur, it is critical to effectively manage the crisis to minimize the damage it causes. In this study, we employ a 2x3 experimental design that manipulates two types of crises (mislabeled food products and food poisoning) and three response policies (no response, admission, and refutation) to investigate how these variables influence consumer attitudes (attribution of responsibility and willingness to purchase). This experimental design also allows for the evaluation of moderating effects of the organization's reputation and the performance of a perceived risk analysis. This results indicate that a trusted organization reputation facilitates the management of crises.