The public won’t wait for an investigation into the Asiana Airlines crash at San Francisco's international airport before attributing blame, says a Victoria University academic.
Associate Professor in Marketing Dr Dan Laufer, who has conducted extensive research into product harm crises, says it’s inevitable that consumers will draw conclusions regarding Asiana and Boeing, the manufacturers of the aircraft involved in the weekend crash.
“Whatever they decide will have an impact on whether passengers choose to fly with Asiana in the future and whether airlines choose to continue purchasing Boeing airplanes.”
Dr Laufer says the public applies its own personal biases to decide who is at fault during a crisis. “Unfortunately for companies, consumers are not jurors who are instructed to only consider the facts.”
Through his research, Dr Laufer has developed a framework for understanding how the public attributes blame during a crisis. He says laying blame helps reduce feelings of uncertainty around an issue.
The level of blame depends on a variety of factors, including previous familiarity with the brand, beliefs surrounding the country of origin and whether the company has previously been involved in similar crises.
“In the case of Asiana Airlines, Boeing has the upper hand, as they are a better-known brand. When companies understand that they are at risk of being blamed, they need to be prepared to respond quickly in order to protect their brand,” says Dr Laufer.
This week, Dr Laufer, in collaboration with the Institute of Directors (IoD), is running a workshop on effective crisis management to help IoD members plan for and respond to an unexpected emergency or crisis that threatens their organisation. Other presenters are former Chief of Police, Howard Broad and former Director, Corporate Services for Telecom New Zealand, Tina Symmans.
Dr Laufer will discuss recent product harm crises that companies have faced both overseas and in New Zealand, including horsemeat found in packaged food, a hacker attack on a major telecommunications company and traces of glass found in cereal.