Presentation Schedule
Person-Thing Orientation and Brand-Crisis: Human vs. Algorithm Error (104901)
Session: On Demand
Room: Virtual Video Presentation
Presentation Type: Virtual Presentation
This research examines how individual differences in orientation moderate consumer responses to brand-harm crises caused by human versus algorithmic error. Building on prior work demonstrating that algorithm-driven failures often provoke less negative brand evaluations than human-caused mistakes, we propose that such effects depend on an individual’s tendency toward Person–Thing Orientation (PTO). Drawing from a between-subjects experiment (N = 470), participants were randomly assigned to read a defective-car recall press release attributing the defect either to a human engineer or to a computer algorithm at the firm. We measured PTO (Person- vs. Thing-oriented), brand evaluation (good–bad, quality, favorability, positivity), and manipulation check for attribution source. Results revealed a pattern consistent with our hypotheses: Person-oriented individuals rated the brand more negatively when a human was responsible; Thing-oriented individuals exhibited greater negativity when the algorithm was blamed. The study contributes to psychological research by integrating PTO into the understanding of technology-mediated brand crises. This has practical implications for firms navigating recalls and transparency in an increasingly automated production environment.
Authors:
Malika Malika, IIM Bangalore, India
Durairaj Maheswaran, New York University, United States
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Malika is Assistant Professor at IIM Bangalore, India.
See this presentation on the full schedule – On Demand Schedule
Virtual Presentation
Conference Comments & Feedback
Place a comment using your LinkedIn profileShare this Presentation
Comments
Powered by WP LinkPress