Seminari - Fabien Pecot

Fabien Pecot (Toulouse Business School) will present his paper “Skeletons in the Closet: Should Brands Disclose Historical Transgressions?,” coauthored by Lunar Renaut (Kedge Business School), Chaney Damien (EM Normandie, Metis Lab), and Chan Eugene (Ryerson University). 

Abstract

Many companies have to deal with historical transgressions (i.e., decisions belonging to the brand past, that are perceived as violations for today’s standards) for which consumer research provides little insight. While time is supposed to “heal all wounds”, this research presents 5 experiments supporting the negative effect of a historical transgression on the overall brand assessment. Studies 1 and 2 distinguish between performance- and value based transgressions, the latter transgressions only affecting the perception of warmth while the former only affect that of competence. Further, Study 2 brings support for the notion that a historical transgression is detrimental to present purchase intentions. Finally, Study 3 shows that the effect of a historical transgression is more detrimental to the brand when the transgression is not recognized and severe.