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Product harm crises are becoming increasingly common, and recent examples include Toyota and Vioxx. This chapter examines country differences that impact consumer blame attributions for an ambiguous product harm crisis, and proposes a framework for a crisis response strategy. The first step involves assessing the level of uncertainty avoidance and crisis severity which serve as an indicator of the urgency felt by consumers to assess blame. The second step involves examining consumer beliefs and information processing biases to determine who consumers will most likely blame in order to resolve the uncertainty. Based on information gathered from these steps, a crisis response strategy is suggested for global brand managers.

This article aims to examine differences between older and younger consumers in their reactions to a product harm crisis. Research suggests that motivational and cognitive changes due to aging might cause information to be differentially utilized. The authors use primary and secondary control influences on information processing to explain why older consumers perceive themselves as less susceptible to the threats associated with a product harm crisis. This has important implications in terms of blame attributions, and marketing variables of interest such as purchase intentions and negative word of mouth.

Two studies were conducted in which participants were asked to read a short newspaper article about a product harm crisis and to respond to a series of questions. Participants were split into two groups based on age.

The empirical findings indicate that, compared with younger consumers, older consumers perceive product harm crises as less threatening, place less blame on the company, and have stronger intentions to purchase and recommend the product involved in the crisis.

The finding that the more physically vulnerable older population actually perceives themselves as less vulnerable to harm suggests that socially responsible companies should work harder to make older consumers aware of risks created by product harm crises when dealing with this increasingly important target market.

This research advances our understanding of differences between older and younger consumers, and adds another dimension to what it means to embrace the true essence of corporate social responsibility with regard to older consumers.

This paper aims to examine how different ways in which a charitable organization communicates successes (highlighting individual or collective achievement) can influence potential future donors, and to determine whether the effectiveness of the communication strategy is contingent on the cultural context.

Experiments were conducted in the USA and Mexico.

The findings of the study demonstrate that the effectiveness of communications with the public regarding a charitable organization's success stories depends on the type of message used in relation to the cultural context. When the message was congruent with the cultural dimension of individualism‐collectivism, the public was more likely to consider making a contribution to the charity.

The study examined the impact of conveying a message congruent with the cultural context in the context of charitable contributions. Further research is needed to examine whether one would expect a similar result with a different type of charitable organization (issue‐related instead of cause‐related) or a non‐student sample.

The authors found that the effectiveness of communications with the public regarding a charitable organization's success stories depends on the type of message used in relation to the cultural context. Standardizing the message can have adverse implications on the public's intentions to donate to the organization.

Very few studies examine charity advertising in a global setting, and to the authors' knowledge this study is the first to examine communicating success stories to the public. In addition, previous studies do not examine the impact of different advertising appeals on intentions to donate to the charity, an important dependent variable for both researchers and practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the cross‐cultural efficacy of a gender identity scale commonly used in marketing: the shortened version of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) measure developed by Barak and Stern, the Gender Trait Index (GTI).

Data were collected in the USA, Mexico, and Norway, and confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the cross‐cultural equivalence of the GTI.

Configural, metric and partial scalar invariance of a revised 16‐item measure were supported.

The validated 16‐item GTI scale will enhance measurement applications and theory building in cross‐cultural research, and further the authors' understanding of the role that gender identity plays in consumer decision making.

Brent B. Allred is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management and International Business at The College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, VA. He earned his Ph.D. in Strategic Management/International Business at The Pennsylvania State University. His current research interests are in technology sourcing and patent rights. He has published in various journals, including the Journal of International Business Studies, Management International Review, the Journal of International Management, Academy of Management Executive, and the Journal of Product Innovation Management.

The aim of this chapter is to take stock of the aspect of the social concertation in the framework of policies of diversity management. It rests in particular on the work of a commission created by the AFMD (French Association of Diversity Managers), in partnership with ORSE (a French Societal Observatory). The commission has involved several larges French companies and organised meetings between the representatives of the different employers’ and workers’ organisations. Another source is the numerous actions led by the Labour Unions in Belgium in the framework of the Consortium Diversité Wallonie, which exists since 2007. This study tries to remind some objectives of social concertation in regards to policies of diversity management, to take stock of the legal constraints on concertation in regards to particular targets, to show the multiple conceptions of this notion of diversity management among social partners, to give an overview of the content of the agreements, and to present the steps of a social concertation sensible to diversity.

This case traces the turn of events when Neha Tomar, a resident of Gurgaon, posted a complaint about Amul milk on Facebook. The post got over 100, 000 shares and was liked by close to 10, 000 users on Facebook. This created a flutter as Amul, India's largest food brand, was known to maintain highest standards and had come to symbolize quality in milk products category. GCMMF, owners of Amul brand, swiftly moved into action and posted the official stand on their Facebook page. The post stated that there was no problem with milk and accused Neha of concealing the facts for generating and sustaining hype. This case presents a new pattern of customer engagement wherein brand is not afraid to take on customer in social media space for managing its reputation.

The purpose of this literature review is to reorient empirical research on the causal links between corporate ecological sustainability (CES) and corporate financial performance (CFP). Toward this end, we summarize the findings of four meta-analyses (conducted between 2012 and 2016), which indicate that there is, on average, a small positive association between CES and CFP. In addition, these empirical associations seem to be contingent on the firm’s strategic approach with regard to ecological sustainability (e.g., proactive vs reactive approach) and on the operationalization of both constructs. We conclude that future research may benefit from an even more explicit, analytic shift to the circumstances under which it pays for firms to go green. The main research limitations we point out are model misspecifications, endogeneity, and problems in the measurement of both CES and CFP.