Country Identity at Risk: Spillover Effects of Product‐Harm Crises and the Roles of Crisis‐Induced Negative Emotions

This study examines how citizens’ recall of product‐harm crises shapes country identity through linked cognitive and emotional mechanisms. Anchored in Buhmann and Ingenhoff's integrative framework and drawing on attribution theory, situational crisis communication theory, appraisal theory and the integrated crisis mapping model, we test a moderated serial mediation model using national survey data from China ( N = 619). Results show that recalling product‐harm crises is associated with more negative evaluations of country identity. This effect operates primarily through heightened attribution of governmental responsibility and reduced overall governmental reputations. Discrete emotions further condition these processes: anger amplifies the effects of crisis recall on corporate responsibility attribution, overall corporate reputations and country identity, while fright and anxiety weaken responsibility attributions and attenuate indirect effects at higher intensity levels. These findings advance crisis spillover research by demonstrating how corporate crises spill over to domestic publics’ country identity through multi‐actor responsibility attributions and emotion‐contingent reputational processes.