Journal of Promotion Management, 20:647–665, 2014 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1049-6491 print / 1540-7594 online DOI: 10.1080/10496491.2014.946201 Responses Toward Corporate Crisis and Corporate Advertising SOJUNG KIM The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China LUCY JANE ATKINSON The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA This article investigates how individual differences affect consumer responses to corporate advertising during a corporate crisis. Study 1, based on qualitative data, showed brand ownership, involve- ment with the crisis, and news media exposure were important factors in understanding consumer response toward the crisis and the company. Study 2, a survey, empirically demonstrated that prior attitude toward the company was the most critical factor af- fecting advertising-related behaviors. The study further suggested consumers of the brand were more likely to view the company fa- vorably, to know more about the company, and to be more involved in their following of the crisis. KEYWORDS corporate crisis, corporate advertising, crisis com- munication, reactance theory, individual differences, consumer behavior INTRODUCTION The Toyota recall crisis started with a single, horrifying car crash in southern California in August, 2009 and grew into the biggest product recall since the 2000 Firestone tire fiasco. The press scrambled to blame Toyota and negative news about the recall dominated the media. Along with these overwhelm- ingly negative news articles, Toyota’s initial slow response to the incident escalated the public’s rage. Despite Toyota’s efforts to overcome the difficult Address correspondence to Sojung Kim, Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Humanities Building, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China. E-mail: ating76@hotmail.com 647 Downloaded by [99.47.182.192] at 17:09 08 November 2014