Service brand rehab: diagnosing trust repair mechanisms

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to understand consumers’ response to the trust repair mechanisms adopted by corporate brands in a service sector context following prominent trust damaging organizational transgressions. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a qualitative approach, six focus group discussions are used to investigate three high-profile consumer trust erosion cases within the service sector. Findings Consumer trust varies by context. Despite the severity of trust damage, corporate brands can recover trust towards their brands amongst consumers not directly affected by transgressions. Not all trust repair mechanisms are equally applicable to all service contexts, and re-branding could be used as a trust repair mechanism. Corporate brands in the service sector should focus on sense-making, relational approaches and transparency. Orchestration of trust repair mechanisms needs to be integrated within the trust rehabilitation processes. Research limitations/implications This study illustrates it is important to reconsider trust repair processes to accommodate context and integrate post-transgression consumer research. Practical implications Successful corporate brand rehabilitation of consumer trust requires examination of the trustworthiness dimensions consumers express before and after the transgression to select the most appropriate trust repair mechanisms. Findings suggest organizations also have preventative trust repair management programs. Originality/value This research is the first to empirically apply the conceptual framework of Bachmann et al. (2015) to explore consumer responses to the trust repair mechanisms adopted by corporate brands by context.

Repairing political trust in Tunisia

“…Finally, this study has demonstrated the applicability of Bachmann's trust repair framework. As this framework was developed in an organizational studies context, its applicability to other contexts had been questioned (Bozic, 2017) and only one study had established its use in a marketing context (see Bolat et al, 2020). The findings from this study establish the use of this integrative framework in a new context, political trust, and highlights how the use of the 6 mechanisms can help to identify patterns in the process of trust repair, i.e.…”

“…In summary, research within the political trust domain has to-date identified a limited range of trust repair responses. Bachman et al (2015) provide a comprehensive framework, and although the transferability of this framework to a non-organizational studies context has been questioned (Bozic, 2017) recent empirical research has demonstrated it applicability (see Bolat et al, 2020). Bachmann et al (2015) provide the most comprehensive framework for trust repair integrating six mechanisms or responses.…”

“…Trust is an abstract and complex concept (Bolat et al, 2020;Boži c, 2017;Rousseau et al, 1998) and consequently, various definitions exist. Rousseau et al (1998) defined trust as a psychological state, a willingness to be vulnerable due to the positive expectations we have of another.…”

“…Bachmann's earlier study, which draws on the work of Dirks et al (2009), Gillespie and Dietz (2009) and Pfarrer et al (2008), goes further to identify six broad mechanisms: sense-making; the relational approach; regulation and formal control; ethical culture and informal controls; and transparency and accountability. This latter conceptual framework has the advantage of being the most comprehensive framework available for trust repair research (Bolat et al, 2020), but as yet has only been empirically evaluated in one study (Bolat et al, 2020) and for these reasons it is selected as the framework for this study.…”

“…In summary, research within the political trust domain has to-date identified a limited range of trust repair responses. Bachmann et al (2015) provide a comprehensive framework and although the transferability of this framework to a non-organizational studies context has been questioned (Boži c, 2017) recent empirical research by Bolat et al (2020) has demonstrated its applicability to a consumer context. Bolat et al (2020) was the first study to empirically use this framework to explore consumer reactions to the trust repair responses and calls for further qualitative research in different contexts; our research also responds to this call.…”