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Building on crisis management studies, this study aims to advance research on brand recovery from the existing focus on product brand/customer dyad into stakeholder marketing and corporate branding.

This study uses a single case of industry-dominant corporate brand in an enriched context through in-depth analysis of industry informant and secondary data.

The paper uncovers detail of corporate brand and stakeholder interactions directed towards recovering corporate brand and restoring trust in the industry.

This study offers an evidence-based framework of stakeholder interactions designed to support corporate brand recovery (CBR). The rich data are bounded within a single case.

Framework illustrates the importance of drawing on stakeholders in CBR, particularly in an industry crisis, emphasises trust restoration and reveals the peripheral role of customers in CBR.

This study points to significance of stakeholder networks, particularly in insurance and financial services, in addressing social and ethical issues related to corporate misdeeds is identified.

This study makes noteworthy contribution to brand recovery research in two ways: firstly, by investigating the recovery of brands at corporate level and, secondly, by detailing the interactions between corporate brand and industry stakeholders in recovering the brand within a stricken industry.

This paper aims to understand consumers’ response to the trust repair mechanisms adopted by corporate brands in a service sector context following prominent trust damaging organizational transgressions.

Adopting a qualitative approach, six focus group discussions are used to investigate three high-profile consumer trust erosion cases within the service sector.

Consumer trust varies by context. Despite the severity of trust damage, corporate brands can recover trust towards their brands amongst consumers not directly affected by transgressions. Not all trust repair mechanisms are equally applicable to all service contexts, and re-branding could be used as a trust repair mechanism. Corporate brands in the service sector should focus on sense-making, relational approaches and transparency. Orchestration of trust repair mechanisms needs to be integrated within the trust rehabilitation processes.

This study illustrates it is important to reconsider trust repair processes to accommodate context and integrate post-transgression consumer research.

Successful corporate brand rehabilitation of consumer trust requires examination of the trustworthiness dimensions consumers express before and after the transgression to select the most appropriate trust repair mechanisms. Findings suggest organizations also have preventative trust repair management programs.

This research is the first to empirically apply the conceptual framework of Bachmann et al. (2015) to explore consumer responses to the trust repair mechanisms adopted by corporate brands by context.

The purpose of this paper is to report on HEIF4 funded research exploring the important areas of research currently being conducted by insurance research practitioners and to identify the key challenges they face when conducting this research.

Empirical data was collected via ten in‐depth telephone interviews and two separate round table group discussions with research practitioners in the general insurance sector.

Three key challenges were identified: over‐researching and respondent fatigue; the increasing use of incentives and the emergence of professional respondents; and the problem of ensuring research credibility. The findings reveal the need to update research practices, to take account of the changing context within which research is undertaken, discussing research methodologies and social issues as well as the evolving and ever changing nature of research.

The study focused on the general insurance sector. The challenges identified reflect in part the unique nature of this sector but are likely to be equally applicable to other financial services sectors. It would therefore be useful to explore the prevalence of these challenges in other financial sectors.

The paper calls on academic researchers to address the challenges identified. Research practitioners want further information, guidance and to learn from “best practice” on how new research techniques can be used to provide quality and timely research; the impact incentives have on research in a business and management context; and how the value of research can be measured. These implications are discussed against a financial backdrop and take account of academic, practitioner and industry challenges.

Academic research on marketing in the insurance context remains scant. This paper highlights the needs and challenges of this sector.

This study aims to identify the responses required to repair political trust in Tunisia and the differences between two key stakeholder groups, namely, politicians and voters.

A sequential mixed method study was adopted using two data sources: semi-structured interviews conducted with citizens and politicians; and media data from TV political talk shows. Data was collected over a three-year period following several key events that affected trust.

New responses were identified to repair political trust, and these were categorized using a trust repair framework. In addition to short- and long-term responses, a new category, swift response, was identified to resolve immediate political uncertainty. The role of the trustor (i.e. voters) in actively restoring trust was identified for the first time.

This study focussed on trust repair responses suggested by voters and politicians and not necessarily responses that were implemented by government or political parties during the period of study. The effectiveness of the suggested responses in repairing trust was not evaluated.

Identification of the responses required to repair trust with voters, how these differ over time, and according to different trust violations will help Tunisian politicians rebuild trust more effectively during election and non-election periods. Notably, differences highlighted between the responses suggested by voters and politicians suggest that politicians may not understand how to repair voter trust.

Contrary to previous studies that assume a trustor (the voter) is a passive observer, this research identified the proactive role that citizens play in the trust repair process.

This study examines the mediating effect of normative commitment, that is, a customer's feeling of moral obligation to stay in a relationship based on the psychological feeling that it is the right thing to do. Previous studies have neglected normative commitment due to its complexity and poor fit with predominantly Western individualistic cultures.

An empirical study was conducted in the collectivist culture of Nigeria, West Africa. The unit of analysis was the business-to-business (B2B) relationship between small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their bank.

This study arrived at two key findings. First, normative commitment is insignificant in acting as the mediator of a relationship in both overall satisfaction and social bonding on advocacy. Second, overall satisfaction and social bonding are positively significant in predicting normative commitment and advocacy.

This study focussed solely on an SME's perception of their relationship with their bank and does not consider the dyadic nature of such relationships, that is, the bank's perception of this relationship.

This research demonstrates that the SME/bank relationship can be developed based on satisfaction and social bonding as background variables. Caution should be exercised for relationships developed on the basis of a moral obligatory commitment.

Regardless of a collectivist cultural setting, normative commitment was found to be ineffective in enhancing relationships in a business-oriented setting in Nigeria, contrary to emerging propositions within the literature.

Using role theory, this paper aims to focus on business-to-business inter-personal relationships and the strain such relationships can have on the individual. How is this strain expressed, and what are the implications for the future of these relationships?

Thirty in-depth interviews were conducted with experienced account managers. The relationship under scrutiny was the inter-personal relationship that exists between the account managers of UK insurance brokers and their business customers.

The study found account managers use a range of resources to support their inter-personal relationships. Where there was a mismatch in the perception of relationship closeness, this did result in role strain for the account managers. In particular, resentment was expressed over time being taken from their working day and their personal life and the impact this had on their work–life balance.

Identification and an understanding of role strain in inter-personal relationships enables firms to provide support, guidance and training to their employees on how best to manage such relationships. Identifying when and in what ways strain can occur enables firms to identify and take steps to avoid relationship disintegration.

This is one of a few papers to provide empirical evidence of the role strain in inter-personal relationship from an individual employee’s perspective. Identification of the personal resources used in inter-personal relationships may prove useful for other researchers working in this under-researched area. In addition, the in-depth interviews highlighted the often overlooked subtleties within relationships and issues that can trigger relationship strain.

This paper aims to provide an insight into the actions required by trust officers to improve customer satisfaction during a time of difficult economic and regulatory conditions.

A total of 96 bank trust officers located in the USA were surveyed using a mail questionnaire.

Increased compliance regulation and financial industry problems during 2008 and 2009 have had only a minor negative impact on customer satisfaction. Success in maintaining satisfaction levels has come from customer‐focused corrective actions including more frequent customer meetings, improved electronic/print mail communications and the provision of more friendly financial information.

The paper makes three recommendations to senior managers to help them maintain customer satisfaction: 1, continue to focus on the basics of customer focus; 2, use existing and emergent technology to provide customer friendly support; and 3, constantly review and update the financial value proposition offered to customers.

The study provides insight into the issues of customer satisfaction in the current difficult economic and regulatory climate.