IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/crepre/v24y2021i4d10.1057_s41299-020-00101-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Did the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal Harm the “Made in Germany” Image? A Cross-Cultural, Cross-Products, Cross-Time Study

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Aichner

    (John Cabot University)

  • Paolo Coletti

    (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano)

  • Frank Jacob

    (ESCP Business School)

  • Robert Wilken

    (ESCP Business School)

Abstract

Over the past years, the Volkswagen emissions scandal has been part of an enduring discussion in the Western media on corporate responsibility (or lack thereof). With its slogan “Das Auto,” the world’s second-largest automobile producer had successfully positioned itself as a German company in both the domestic and foreign markets, with the aim of benefitting from Germany’s positive country image. The emissions scandal, however, may have harmed not only the VW brand but also the “Made in Germany” label in general. This exploratory article shows that there are strong signals that this transgression indeed has led to a reverse country-of-origin effect, compromising Germany’s positive image. The authors demonstrate that this effect varied across product categories and customers’ cultural affiliations and that the perceived impact of the brand transgression on the country image increased over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Aichner & Paolo Coletti & Frank Jacob & Robert Wilken, 2021. "Did the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal Harm the “Made in Germany” Image? A Cross-Cultural, Cross-Products, Cross-Time Study," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(4), pages 179-190, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:crepre:v:24:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1057_s41299-020-00101-5
    DOI: 10.1057/s41299-020-00101-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41299-020-00101-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41299-020-00101-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin S Roth & Jean B Romeo, 1992. "Matching Product Category and Country Image Perceptions: A Framework for Managing Country-of-Origin Effects," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(3), pages 477-497, September.
    2. Mansur Khamitov & Yany Grégoire & Anshu Suri, 2020. "A systematic review of brand transgression, service failure recovery and product-harm crisis: integration and guiding insights," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 519-542, May.
    3. Spielmann, Nathalie, 2016. "Is it all or nothing? Testing schema congruity and typicality for products with country origin," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 1130-1137.
    4. Gillespie, Nicole & Dietz, Graham & Lockey, Steve, 2014. "Organizational Reintegration and Trust Repair after an Integrity Violation: A Case Study," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 371-410, July.
    5. El Banna, Alia & Papadopoulos, Nicolas & Murphy, Steven A. & Rod, Michel & Rojas-Méndez, José I., 2018. "Ethnic identity, consumer ethnocentrism, and purchase intentions among bi-cultural ethnic consumers: “Divided loyalties” or “dual allegiance”?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 310-319.
    6. Siano, Alfonso & Vollero, Agostino & Conte, Francesca & Amabile, Sara, 2017. "“More than words”: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 27-37.
    7. Yijing Wang & Louisa Wanjek, 2018. "How to Fix a Lie? The Formation of Volkswagen’s Post-crisis Reputation Among the German Public," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(2), pages 84-100, June.
    8. Roth, Katharina P. & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios, 2009. "Advancing the country image construct," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 726-740, July.
    9. Rebecca K. Trump & Kevin P. Newman, 2017. "When do unethical brand perceptions spill over to competitors?," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 219-230, June.
    10. Yan Liu & Venkatesh Shankar, 2015. "The Dynamic Impact of Product-Harm Crises on Brand Preference and Advertising Effectiveness: An Empirical Analysis of the Automobile Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(10), pages 2514-2535, October.
    11. Shih-Chieh Chuang & HsiuJu Yen, 2007. "The impact of a product’s country-of-origin on compromise and attraction effects," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 279-291, December.
    12. Topaloglu, Omer & Gokalp, Omer N., 2018. "How brand concept affects consumer response to product recalls: A longitudinal study in the U.S. auto industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 245-254.
    13. Nancy Leech & Anthony Onwuegbuzie, 2009. "A typology of mixed methods research designs," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 265-275, March.
    14. Wang, Sijun & Holloway, Betsy B. & Beatty, Sharon E. & Hill, William W., 2007. "Adolescent influence in family purchase decisions: An update and cross-national extension," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 1117-1124, November.
    15. Verlegh, Peeter W. J. & Steenkamp, Jan-Benedict E. M., 1999. "A review and meta-analysis of country-of-origin research," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 521-546, October.
    16. Peeter W J Verlegh, 2007. "Home country bias in product evaluation: the complementary roles of economic and socio-psychological motives," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(3), pages 361-373, May.
    17. K. Roth & A. Diamantopoulos, 2009. "Advancing the country image construct," Post-Print hal-00787417, HAL.
    18. Lee, Jin Kyun & Lee, Byung-Kwan & Lee, Wei-Na, 2013. "Country-of-origin fit's effect on consumer product evaluation in cross-border strategic brand alliance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 354-363.
    19. Vassilikopoulou, Aikaterini & Siomkos, George & Chatzipanagiotou, Kalliopi & Pantouvakis, Angelos, 2009. "Product-harm crisis management: Time heals all wounds?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 174-180.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michel Guillemin & Robin Nicholas, 2022. "Core Values at Work—Essential Elements of a Healthy Workplace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-17, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zeugner-Roth, Katharina Petra & Bartsch, Fabian, 2020. "COO in print advertising: Developed versus developing market comparisons," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 364-378.
    2. Wang, Cheng Lu & Li, Dongjin & Barnes, Bradley R. & Ahn, Jongseok, 2012. "Country image, product image and consumer purchase intention: Evidence from an emerging economy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 1041-1051.
    3. Peter M. Fischer & Katharina P. Zeugner-Roth, 2017. "Disentangling country-of-origin effects: the interplay of product ethnicity, national identity, and consumer ethnocentrism," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 189-204, June.
    4. Peter Magnusson & Stanford A. Westjohn & Nancy J. Sirianni, 2019. "Beyond country image favorability: How brand positioning via country personality stereotypes enhances brand evaluations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(3), pages 318-338, April.
    5. Brijs, Kris & Bloemer, Josée & Kasper, Hans, 2011. "Country-image discourse model: Unraveling meaning, structure, and function of country images," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 1259-1269.
    6. Fischer, Peter Mathias & Reinecke, Sven, 2015. "Preispremium Swissness Worldwide und „Country-of-Origin“-Effekte – Der Einfluss von Produktethnizität auf die Zahlungsbereitschaft," Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 69(2), pages 132-152.
    7. Martin, Drew & Palakshappa, Nitha & Woodside, Arch, 2019. "Consumer metaphoria: Uncovering the automaticity of animal, product/brand, and country meanings," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 113-125.
    8. Simon Fauser & David Agola, 2021. "The influence of regional Italian images on consumer behaviour: a study of consumers in Germany," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2021(1), pages 129-158, June.
    9. Witek-Hajduk Marzanna K. & Grudecka Anna, 2019. "Country of origin from a management perspective of emerging market companies," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 55(3), pages 212-229, September.
    10. Baldauf, Artur & Cravens, Karen S. & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios & Zeugner-Roth, Katharina Petra, 2009. "The Impact of Product-Country Image and Marketing Efforts on Retailer-Perceived Brand Equity: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(4), pages 437-452.
    11. Godey, Bruno & Pederzoli, Daniele & Aiello, Gaetano & Donvito, Raffaele & Chan, Priscilla & Oh, Hyunjoo & Singh, Rahul & Skorobogatykh, Irina I. & Tsuchiya, Junji & Weitz, Bart, 2012. "Brand and country-of-origin effect on consumers' decision to purchase luxury products," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(10), pages 1461-1470.
    12. Carlos Manuel Súcia Búrcio & Rui Manuel Vinhas Da Silva & Maria de Fátima Salgueiro, 2015. "The influence of country personality dimensions on intentions to recommend visiting: The preponderance of assiduousness and wickedness," Transnational Marketing Journal, Oxbridge Publishing House, UK, vol. 3(1), pages 61-80, May.
    13. Rodrigo, Padmali & Khan, Hina & Ekinci, Yuksel, 2019. "The determinants of foreign product preference amongst elite consumers in an emerging market," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 139-148.
    14. Suter, Mariana Bassi & Munjal, Surender & Borini, Felipe Mendes & Floriani, Dinora, 2021. "Conceptualizing country-of-origin image as a country-specific advantage: An insider perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 415-427.
    15. Zhang, Jianhong & Zhou, Chaohong & van Gorp, Désirée M. & van Witteloostuijn, Arjen, 2020. "Willingness to work for multinational enterprises from emerging countries: The case of Chinese multinational enterprises in the Netherlands," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    16. Peng Yu & Hongmei Zhang, 2020. "Does Travel Really Enhance Destination-Country Image? Understanding Tourists’ Changes in Perception toward a Destination Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-12, May.
    17. Leonidas C. Leonidou & Bilge Aykol & Saeed Samiee & Nikolaos Korfiatis, 2022. "A Meta-analysis of the Antecedents and Outcomes of Consumer Foreign Country Image Perceptions: The Moderating Role of Macro-level Country Differences," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 62(5), pages 741-784, October.
    18. Carneiro, Jorge & Faria, Flávio, 2016. "Quest for purposefully designed conceptualization of the country-of-origin image construct," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4411-4420.
    19. Zeugner-Roth, Katharina P. & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios, 2010. "Advancing the country image construct: Reply to Samiee's (2009) commentary," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 446-449, April.
    20. Bartikowski, Boris & Fastoso, Fernando & Gierl, Heribert, 2019. "Luxury cars Made-in-China: Consequences for brand positioning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 288-297.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:crepre:v:24:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1057_s41299-020-00101-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.