The Effects Of Brand Relationship Quality On Consumers' Forgiveness Willingness In The Context Of Food Harm Crisis

In recent years,there have been frequent outbreaks of food harm crisis in China,such as the Sanlu milk powder "melamine" incident in 2008,the Nestle "excessive arsenic" incident in 2011,the Huiyuan "Decayed fruits" incident in 2013,the Carrefour “excessive sulfur dioxide in dryed vegetables” in2014 and the Three squirrels “excessive mould” incident in 2017,which have aroused the attention of governments,food enterprises and the consumers on the food safety in China.Frequent food harm crisis have caused consumers to lose trust in the involved food enterprises and have had different influences on consumers' forgiveness willingness.However,after the food harm crisis occurring,consumers' forgiveness willingness can create extremely high value for involved enterprises,repair the trust relationship between consumers and the food enterprises,and facilitate the sustainable development of enterprises.Therefore,to promote consumers' repurchase willingness,improve repairment strategies of food harm crisis,and facilitate the sustainable development of food industries,it is necessary to understand the formation mechanism of consumers' forgiveness willingness after occurring food harm crisis.However,the brand relationships quality between consumers and food enterprises can ease the negative effects of the food harm crisis,make consumers generate the forgiveness willingness,and even repurchase the commodity in food enterprises.Thus,from the perspective of brand relationship quality,this paper builds a model of the effects of brand relationship quality on consumers' forgiveness willingness in the context of food harm crisis,analyzes the influence mechanism of the multi-dimension brand relationship quality on consumers' forgiveness willingness,and discusses the moderating role of the electronic negative word-of-mouth.It has the important theoretical value and practical significance to promote the application of brand relationship quality theory on food harm crisis management for the food enterprises,to control the electronic negative word-of-mouth in food harm crisis,to further promote the quantitative and model research on consumers' forgiveness willingness,and to optimize the food harm crisis management strategy.The innovation of this research is reflected in the refinement study of brand relationship quality.Basing on the multi-perspective of brand relationship intensity and brand relationship persistence,this paper divides the brand relationship quality into 6 dimensions.The brand relationship intensity including self-concept connection and social value expression.The brand relationship persistence including brand satisfaction,brand trust,brand commitment and brand intimacy.A total of 339 valid samples were collected in Guangzhou,and were analyzed by the structural equation technology.The empirical results indicate that social value expression,brand trust,brand commitment and brand intimacy have significant positive effects on consumers' forgiveness willingness.The electronic negative word-of-mouth has negative moderating effects on the relationship between brand relationship quality and consumers' forgiveness willingness.Therefore,it is urgent for food enterprises to strengthen the brand strategy management,enhance the brand relationship quality,control the electronic negative word-of-mouth quickly and effectively in the context of food harm crisis,improve the control ability of the quality and safety,build the correct corporate moral values and establish the food harm crisis prevention mechanism.