RT Article
T1 Negative Publicity Effect of the Business Founder’s Unethical Behavior on Corporate Image: Evidence from China
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 117
IS 1
SP 111
OP 121
A1 Zhu, Dong-Hong
A1 Chang, Ya-Ping
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 2013
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1785648888
AB The unethical behavior of a business founder often leads to negative publicity which substantially affects positive corporate image. The amount of negative publicity relating to business founders’ unethical behavior is on the rise in the age of online social media in China. Based on the stimulus–response theory and balance theory, this paper developed a theoretical model to examine how negative publicity about a business founder’s unethical behavior affects corporate image. The proposed model was tested by the partial least squares technique. Results show that perceived severity, publicity intensity and recovery performance are predictors of corporate image: perceived severity has a negative impact on positive corporate image; publicity intensity and recovery performance have positive impacts on positive corporate image; and founder image mediates the relationships between the three predictors and corporate image. Moreover, initial consumer impression of business founders has a positive impact on positive corporate image.
K1 Unethical Behavior
K1 negative publicity
K1 Entrepreneurship and ethics
K1 Entrepreneurs
K1 Corporate image
K1 Business founder
DO 10.1007/s10551-012-1512-2