ABSTRACT Brand misconduct can trigger negative consumer responses and escalate into brand crises. Effective crisis management is therefore essential to mitigate such responses and enhance organisational resilience. This study investigates the impact of various crisis communication strategies on consumer engagement and subsequent brand cancellation, incorporating the mediating role of consumer engagement and the moderating influence of brand misconduct type. Two experimental studies using simple random sampling were conducted online. The findings reveal that crisis communication strategies exert significantly different effects on consumer engagement, which in turn negatively influences brand cancellation. However, the mediating role of consumer engagement varies depending on the specific strategy used: it partially mediates the effect of corrective action, fully mediates the effect of reducing offensiveness and does not significantly mediate the effects of the evading responsibility and mortification strategies. Furthermore, corrective action and reducing offensiveness strategies are more effective in enhancing consumer engagement in performance‐related misconduct, whereas evading responsibility is the least effective in value‐related misconduct. This study contributes to the crisis management and brand cancellation literature by offering practical insights for brand managers and corporate communication professionals. Tailoring crisis communication content to the nature of brand misconduct can enhance consumer engagement and reduce the risk of brand cancellation.
Liu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.