Understanding the Mechanisms of How The Trust Violation Harms Brand Attachment: The Boundary Condition of Apology Types

Abstract

In the context of globalization, a major issue confronting multinational marketing is the difference in customer behavior shaped by variances across nations and cultures. When confronted with items from other countries, consumer behavior is impacted by the items themselves as well as cultural value judgments. Previous research on trust violation has seldom included multinational firms; moreover, most studies on consumer ethnocentrism have focused on consumer purchases and brand emotion, with a minimal focus on corporate trust. This study selected self-congruence and customer ethnocentrism as the mediating variables to analyze the factors affecting consumers’ brand emotions in the context of trust breaches in multinational corporations To test the proposed hypotheses, this study collected data using three experiments. The findings showed that: First, as predicted, trust breaches in multinational firms have a negative impact on brand attachment. Second, the self-congruence moderates the relationship between brand attachment and trust violations in multinational firms. Third, self-congruence and customer ethnocentrism influence the relationship between trust breakdown and brand attachment as serial mediators. Fourth, apology type moderate the relationship between trust violation and brand attachment. The findings provide multinational corporations with a deeper understanding of customer perspectives following a breach of trust, enabling them to take appropriate corrective measures. Since self-congruence influences consumer sentiments toward a brand, a trust breach may disrupt the brand personality framework established by the company. Maintaining a company's brand personality requires fulfilling consumer commitments and fostering trust. Finally, an effective apology can enhance brand loyalty when consumer trust is violated. Emotional apologies are particularly potent compared to descriptive explanations. Therefore, organizations must implement effective apology strategies to strengthen customer loyalty.