Does a corporation’s food recall strategy affect its brand image and consumers’ intention to purchase? A study in the context of cereal recall in China

Purpose Food recalls are more potentially harmful than other product recalls. This research aimed to investigate the effect of the recall strategies of food corporations on their brand image and consumers’ purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a between-subjects experiment of 2 (corporate recall strategy: voluntary recall, mandatory recall) *3 (food recall level (severity): high, medium, low), and recruits 224 consumers involved in cereal product recall in China. The authors inductively examine the effects of voluntary and mandatory recall on consumer perception and behavior intentions in the recall process. Findings Voluntary recall (vs. mandatory recall) will improve corporate brand responsibility image (vs. brand ability image) and consumers’ purchase intention to focal brand (vs. competitive brand and organic brand). Perceived corporate legitimacy and food safety play a mediating role. The former has a greater positive impact on brand image, and the latter has a more significant favorable influence on purchase intention. Furthermore, recall level has a moderating effect on the association between corporate recall strategy and perceived food safety, but is not significant in the effect of corporate recall strategy on perceived corporate legitimacy. Originality/value Previous inconsistent conclusions cannot effectively guide food corporations to manage recall strategies. This paper demonstrates the response mechanism of the recall strategy from the perspective of corporate social responsibility, which is beneficial to food safety crisis management and research.