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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Provocation is a commonly used strategy in advertising to get a target group’s attention.
Recently, communication practitioners have observed that some brands implemented a
provocative approach to crisis communication. However, little is known about the
effectiveness of this type of strategy, and its consequences for a brand’s reputation. This
dissertation explored this phenomenon through a scientific case study on the German
smoothie brand true fruits, which repeatedly implemented a provocative crisis
communication strategy in the past. The aim of this research is to explore consequences,
risks, and opportunities through a comprehensive literature review on relevant theories and
a methodological case study approach, which combined several methods. Notions from the
fields of relationship theory, brand personality research, provocative communication, and
crisis communication were reviewed and combined to establish a theoretical framework and
relevant concepts were identified. The case of true fruits was investigated through the
methods documentation, survey interviews with consumers, and interviews with industry
professionals. After establishing the context of this case, the data collection and analysis was
conducted. Through this, the relationships and relevancy between each concept was
explored. By doing so, the dissertation identified several relevant success and risk factors,
which can serve as a basis for future research and go into consideration for the
communication planning process, such as brand personality, brand relationship quality,
polarization, anti-brand activism, and duration of execution time.
Description
Keywords
Provocation Crisis communication Brand personality Relationship theory Communication strategy Anti-brand activism Case study research