Abstract Based on attribution theory, three experiments were conducted to explore the impact of negative electronic word-of-mouth (E-WOM) dispersion on consumer-based brand equity after the Agri-brand crisis. The findings indicate that: ①Compared with the case where the dispersion of negative E-WOM is low, when the dispersion of negative E-WOM is high, consumers attribute less responsibility to the brand in crisis and the brand’s equity is higher. ②When the dispersion of negative E-WOM is high, providing this information to consumers can significantly reduce their responsibility attribution to the crisis and enhance brand equity compared with not providing this information to consumers. ③When there is clear crisis responsibility attribution information, the impact of negative E-WOM dispersion on brand equity will disappear. ④When the dispersion of negative E-WOM is high, using a justification strategy can significantly improve brand equity more than a remediation strategy; when the dispersion of negative E-WOM is low, using a remediation strategy can significantly improve brand equity more than a justification strategy.
BAI Zhonghu,SHI Zhenzhen,QING Ping. The Influence of Negative E-WOM Dispersion on Brand Equity After Agri-Brand Crisis[J]. Chinese Journal of Management, 2025, 22(4): 741-.
