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Using the combined theoretical umbrella of organizational legitimacy theory, service-dominant logic, fairness heuristic theory and two-factor theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of different food recall strategies (recall proactiveness and compensation) in terms of both how consumers react (perceived organizational legitimacy and purchase intention) and how recall norms would influence the effectiveness in three countries. In addition to the reporting of important results, this paper provides implications for food companies to handle effectively the recalls, especially when the recalls are cross-country.

A 2 compensation (high vs low) ×2 recall strategy (proactive vs passive) scenario experiment was conducted in Hong Kong, the USA and Mainland China. After checking the effectiveness of manipulation, the paper tested the main effect and interaction effect of recall proactiveness and compensation on perceived organizational legitimacy and purchase intention. In addition, the mediating effect of perceived organizational legitimacy between recall strategies and purchase intention was also tested.

Significant main effect, interaction and mediation effect were found across the three countries with a different pattern. For the USA and Mainland China which have strong recall norms, the interaction found followed the predictions of the two-factory theory. However, the pattern found in Hong Kong, which has weak recall norms, followed the predictions of the fairness heuristic theory. Full mediation effect of perceived organizational legitimacy between compensation and purchase intention was found in the USA and Mainland China, while it was only partial in Hong Kong. For the mediation between proactiveness and purchase intention, full mediation was found in Hong Kong and the USA, while it was only partial in Mainland China.

First, this study differentiated food recall strategy into two dimensions – recall proactiveness and compensation. Second, this study tested the applicability of two-factor theory and fairness heuristic theory in recalls by testing the competing hypotheses proposed according to the two theories. Finally, this study can further help our understanding of the recall effectiveness across different recall norms.

Cruising is one of the industries most susceptible to the current COVID-19 health crisis, due to the closed environment and the contacts between cruisers and crewmembers. This study aims to understand if the perceived crowding and the health risk perception related to the pandemic situation might threaten passengers’ intentions to cruise. The study also examines corporate reputation and trust, as well as social motivation and self-confidence, as possible predictors of consumers’ intention to cruise.

The study is based on the development of a structured questionnaire submitted online via social media. Overall, 553 individuals’ responses were used for understanding the factors that can affect consumers’ intention to cruise by performing several regression models.

The results show that the perceived crowding related to the pandemic does not seem to influence people’s intention to cruise. On the contrary, trust in the cruise company, corporate reputation, cruisers’ self-confidence and research of social motivation are positive predictors of intention to cruise, thus reducing the perceived risk’s deterring impact. The importance of such factors differs in respect of repeat and not repeat cruisers.

The study presents several managerial implications as it analyses the variables that could help cruise management cope better with COVID-19’s negative impact.

Despite the severity of COVID-19’s impact on the cruise industry, no studies have yet focussed on how the current pandemic situation may influence customers’ intention to cruise in the future.

The role of retailers in influencing consumer attitude during a brand scandal is quite complex, as retailers are in direct contact with both marketers and consumers. The purpose of the exploratory research is to propose a theoretical model to capture the influences retailers exercise on consumers during brand scandals.

A qualitative approach has been adopted in the study. The study employs the grounded theory approach on the data collected by conducting in-depth interviews with 25 retailers.

Four contextual conditions and six behavioral antecedents of the retailer's role in the context of the brand scandal were identified. Then, the study finds that companies tend to follow two broad approaches during a brand scandal to address retailers' queries and apprehensions. On these bases, the study proposes a six-pronged typology to better understand retailers' role in shaping consumers' brand perception.

Existing literature has not paid adequate attention to this aspect of retailers' role in influencing consumer choices during brand scandal. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no prior research which investigates the role and influence of retailers in shaping consumer attitude during brand scandals. It is important to underline that the current research advocates retailers' significant role during a performance-based brand scandal. Specifically, the authors explored a health-related defective scandal of a well-known food brand. In addition, the study focuses on traditional grocery retailers, which already have special relationships with their consumers. Based on retailer perspectives, the authors' contribution is also updating the discussion of branding theory in case of scandals. The identified variables and constructs may be used for empirical investigation on the role of retailers in shaping consumer attitudes toward the scandalized brand.

When in the Summer of 2015 unprecedented numbers of refugees traveled through Austria, not only public and governmental authorities were challenged to provide support, but also the business sector. Various companies responded to the challenge by organizing relief actions, among them Austrian Federal Railways (OEBB). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of this initiative on stakeholder perceptions and behavior.

The case of OEBB served as the research context. Data were collected by means of an online survey in May of 2016, about eight months after the initiative.

Almost half of the participants mentioned OEBB’s activities for refugees in an unaided recall task. Unaided corporate social responsibility (CSR) awareness is related to people’s issue involvement and reminiscence of specific activities and communication measures. People unaidedly recalling the initiative expressed a significantly better CSR image and identification with the company; they also expressed a stronger intention to speak positively (positive word of mouth) about the company’s CSR activities. CSR image and attitude toward the initiative mediates this effect.

The study stresses the importance of CSR awareness and communication. The non-representative sample does not allow general inferences.

This research uses an actual case to test the effectiveness of CSR activities and communication in the context of a highly critical situation, and sheds light on the mediating processes that drive the effects. The study extends existing knowledge from experimental studies.