Brand transgression in corporate social responsibility era: empirical evidence from hospitality industry

Consumers rely on prior information and interactions with the brands to develop their expectations through the firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, but some adverse incidents violate the customer-brand relationship. In such circumstances, it is inevitable for the brands to understand how consumers react and how they can be managed strategically. Therefore, this research aims to determine the impact of brand transgression on brand retaliation and the mediating role of negative emotions between brand transgression and brand retaliation. Using attribution theory, this study determines the extent to which the relationship between brand transgression and negative emotions is moderated by brand love and the association between negative emotion and brand retaliation is moderated by positive word-of-mouth (WOM). The data was collected using a survey questionnaire from 357 consumers and analyzed using process macros analysis techniques. The findings show a positive linkage between brand transgression and brand retaliation among consumers in the hospitality industry. Lastly, this study confirmed that brand love weakens the positive relationship between brand transgression and negative emotions, and positive WOM weakens the positive relationship between negative emotions and brand retaliation.