The effects of firm action messages on the information processing and risk perception of customers

Abstract

Product-harm crises usually lead to product recalls, which may drive the involved firms to take countermeasures, such as releasing messages relevant to their response actions. In this study, guided by the heuristic-systematic model, a case of Volkswagen automobile recalls in China in 2013 was utilized to study the influence of two types of firm action message (technical and ceremonial) on the risk perception of customers. Results showed that the messages of technical actions divided the customers into two categories. In one category, the customers applied systematic processing that increased their risk perception, whereas those in the other category employed heuristic processing that decreased their risk perception. These findings did not evidently confirm the effectiveness of technical messages. In contrast, ceremonial action messages were determined to be generally conductive to reducing the risk perception of customers, but such perception could not be completely controlled. Therefore, this study posits that firms dealing with product recall crises should release messages containing both types of firm action message.