The silence effect: mechanisms behind consumer inaction during brand crises

Purpose This study aims to investigate a less studied but strategically important behavior for managing brand reputation: consumer silence in response to brand crises. Design/methodology/approach The study used three scenario-based experiments to test the main effect, moderation effect and mediation mechanisms. ANOVA was used for analysis of the data. Findings During a brand crisis, consumers could prefer to remain silent over positive or negative word of mouth. Their responses are mediated by pride and shame, and psychological ownership weakens the negative spill-over effects across value based and functional based crises. Research limitations/implications This study provides fresh perspectives on passive consumer responses: silence during brand crises. It highlights the necessity of further studies that examine silence in a variety of cultural contexts and brand categories. It integrates psychological constructs such as pride, shame and ownership to consumer responses to brand crises. Practical implications Nurturing psychological ownership among consumers can help brands manage crises more effectively by encouraging consumer silence. Social implications Fostering silence among consumers can help shape responsible brand communication strategies and build resilient consumer–brand relationships. Originality/value This study broadens the view that predominantly restricted the consumer response to brand crises to advocacy or resistance by exploring and explaining the mechanisms of consumer silence as a response to brand crises with basis in self-congruence theory.