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Three studies examine an emotion fit effect in the crisis communication, namely, the interaction between emotional frames of guilt and shame and consumer emotions of anger and fear on consumer forgiveness. Guilt-framing communication results in higher forgiveness than shame-framing for angry consumers, whereas shame-framing communication results in higher forgiveness than guilt-framing for fearful consumers. These effects are driven by consumers' accessible regulatory foci associated with anger/fear and guilt/shame. Specifically, feelings of anger activate a promotion focus that is represented by guilt frames, while feelings of fear activate a prevention focus that is enacted by shame frames. Compared with emotion non-fit (i.e., anger to shame and fear to guilt), emotion fit (i.e., anger to guilt and fear to shame) facilitates greater feelingright and consumer forgiveness. The findings offer novel insights for extant literature on emotion, crisis communication, and regulatory focus theory, as well as practical suggestions regarding the emotional frames.

This research proposes that mortality salience leads individuals to engage in differentiation of excessive consumption based on their appraisal of the karmic system. Study 1 demonstrated that mortality salience interacts with belief in karma to jointly determine excessive consumption, such that consumers faced with mortality salience tend to increase overconsumption likelihood when they have a weak (vs. strong) belief in karma. Study 2 revealed the underlying mechanism – temporal perspective – that drives our main effect. Replicating the findings of the two previous studies, study 3 further delineated benefit appeal as a theoretically derived boundary condition for the proposed interaction effect on excessiveness. Theoretical and, practical implications, as well as avenues for future research are discussed.

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Consumers tend to be impatient during an online wait (e.g., waiting for webpages to download), which may decrease their satisfaction with online retailers. The current research addresses this important issue by identifying a simple and viable strategy to boost consumer patience: the presence of anthropomorphic cues on the download interface. In particular, we postulate a matching effect between anthropomorphic cues and shopping motivation on consumer patience, such that hedonic (vs. utilitarian) consumption benefits from exciting (vs. sincere) anthropomorphism, whereas utilitarian (vs. hedonic) consumption benefits from sincere (vs. exciting) anthropomorphism (Study 1). Notably, these effects are driven by a match between anthropomorphic cues and shopping motivation that creates perceptions of fluency, and the ensuing enjoyment experience yields enhanced patience (Study 2). In addition to having substantive theoretical implications for the anthropomorphism, patience, and persuasion literature, our findings offer novel insights regarding ways for marketers to effectively manage online wait.

Purpose Many managers and scholars focus on how to repair brand image after a corporate crisis. This research paper aims to propose that a fresh start mindset (FSM) and brand crisis type can jointly influence consumer forgiveness. Design/methodology/approach Three studies were conducted to examine the authors’ hypotheses. Study 1 is a 3 (FSM: high vs low vs control) × 2 (brand crisis: controllable vs uncontrollable) between-subjects factorial design to test the interaction effect of FSM and brand crisis type on consumer forgiveness. Study 2 is a 2 (FSM: high vs low) × 2 (brand crisis: controllable vs uncontrollable) between-subjects factorial design to identify the affective and cognitive mechanisms in the influence of FSM and brand crisis type on consumer forgiveness. Study 3 is a 2 (FSM: high vs low) × 2 (brand crisis: controllable vs uncontrollable) × 3 (strategy: defensive strategy vs accommodative strategy vs reticence) between-subjects factorial design, aimed to identify the possible boundary conditions of this effect and tested the moderating role of brand crisis response strategies. Findings Study 1 finds that the FSM interacts with brand crisis type to affect consumer forgiveness. Specifically, consumers faced with uncontrollable (vs controllable) brand crises tend to increase (vs decrease) consumer forgiveness after a corporate crisis. Study 2 identifies the underlying mechanism, such that two distinct mechanisms drive the interaction effect. Affective empathy and perceived responsibility mediate the interaction effect of FSM and brand crisis type on forgiveness. Study 3 replicates the findings of studies 1 and 2 and confirms the boundary condition of the effect, showing that crisis response strategy moderates the interaction between FSM and brand crisis type. Originality/value Theoretically, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research observes the interactive effect of FSM and brand crisis for the first time, thus extending the existing research on both FSM and brand crisis. This study also enriches existing empathy and responsibility literature by examining the mediating role of empathy and perceived responsibility. Practical implications for marketers are apparent, especially after a brand crisis occurs. Corporates can deal with different types of the brand crisis based on consumers’ FSM. Finally, future research with regards to the findings is discussed.

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