Is That a Finger in My Chili?
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
© 2006 CORNELL UNIVERSITY
DOI: 10.1177/0010880405283623
Volume 47, Number 2 106-120
10.1177/0010880405283623
Is That a Finger
in My Chili?
by KATHRYN A. BRAUN-LATOUR, MICHAEL S. LATOUR, and ELIZABETH F. LOFTUS
A study of the effects of reconstructive memory oman finds a finger in her Wendy’s
points the way to dealing with the damage to a busi-
ness’s reputation that follows an instance of negative
publicity. The study contradicts the commonly held
“W chili” was a headline plastered all over
the national news and the subject of
jokes in late-night talk shows during the first few
myth that it is best to avoid communicating for a time months of 2005.1 The publicity occurred when a Las
and let consumers “forget” an unfortunate incident. Vegas woman accused Wendy’s of serving her a
Instead, given what is now known about reconstruc-
tainted bowl of chili. The image of the half-inch finger-
tive memory processes, the crisis situation can be
used as a means to reestablish a relationship with
tip curdled many stomachs in the United States (and
consumers. This research investigation proposes perhaps other parts of the world as well). Curiously,
that postcrisis communication efforts should be Wendy’s took an oddly hesitant stance with its public
focused on emotionally connecting with consumers relations position, even after it was found that the
via autobiographical-referencing advertising. More- woman had placed the fingertip in the chili herself.
over, although the study focuses on crisis manage- Wendy’s sales plummeted an estimated $2.5 million.2
ment, the lessons of reconstructive memory can be Wendy’s chief response as a means of luring customers
applied to all phases of brand management. back in was to offer a “Free Frosty” Weekend, from
May 13 to 15, 2005. However, customers gave that
Keywords: reconstructive memory; Wendy’s; crisis promotion a “frosty,” reception and sales were slow to
management; advertising for affect rebound.3
106 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly MAY 2006IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI? PERCEPTIONS In this article, we offer what we believe implications for the hospitality industry is a better way to respond to a PR disaster and postcrisis management. or, even more broadly, to a service failure.4 In the chili situation, Wendy’s tried to Crisis Communication appeal to customers’ pocketbooks. We Traditionally, crisis-management suggest a different type of response—that gurus have focused on taking information- is, to appeal to customers’ emotions. related actions during a crisis, such as Through a technique known as autobio- being visible to the consumer, providing graphical referencing, Wendy’s could, for straightforward information, and being instance, have used a nostalgia-based internally consistent with that informa- campaign to remind customers of happy tion.7 However, what happens to a com- experiences they have had at their restau- pany in crisis after the issue has seemingly rants. In fact, given what is known about been resolved can be essential to restoring the reconstructive nature of recall, it is the brand’s reputation. Little research has possible that through using this technique, been focused on what companies should Wendy’s might have been able to create do as far as advertising or communicating positive memories of things that may have after a crisis. In fact, the commonly held actually never happened.5 view is that it is best not to advertise after a The purpose of this article is to explain crisis, and give consumers time to “forget” the reconstructive view of memory and the situation. Northwest Airlines fol- discuss how advertising that appeals to lowed this strategy, for instance, choosing one’s own past experiences (i.e., autobio- not to publicly apologize for its “impris- graphical referencing) can be used as a oning” airline passengers during a 1999 means to connect emotionally with con- snowstorm in Detroit and concentrating sumers. Because brands that have strong on local advertising efforts to restore its relationships with their consumers are image.8 better at withstanding problems, or “hic- Legal liability issues aside, the ratio- cups,”6 we propose that reminding con- nale for this strategy of noncommuni- sumers of their past connection with a cation was that Northwest Airlines did not brand may be a particularly effective way want to remind consumers of its misdi- to repair the brand’s image after a crisis rected efforts, nor did it want to inform situation. We discuss an experiment where those consumers who might not have consumers who heard the most about the heard about the January snowstorm deba- Wendy’s tampering (i.e., Las Vegas cus- cle. Some companies, rather than apolo- tomers) are exposed to either an ad cam- gize, have instead used promotions (e.g., paign that features the “Free Frosty” pro- coupons, rebates) to “lure” customers motion or an ad that tries to get them to back after the trouble has subsided. relive positive memories at Wendy’s (even Wendy’s “Free Frosty” promotion was things that cannot have happened, such as one such tool. According to Denny Lynch, enjoying “Wendy’s Playland”). In that Wendy’s senior vice president of commu- regard, we then present a causal model nications, “we were using this weekend to that shows that appealing to customers’ kind of restart our sales nationwide. We emotions is a more effective way to are hopeful that Americans will remember rebound from a crisis than is appealing to Wendy’s like they did before March 22.”9 reason (say, by offering monetary incen- While sales promotions generally have tives). These results have wide-ranging short-term sales benefits, they fall short in MAY 2006 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 107
PERCEPTIONS IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI?
10
longer-term image repair. In fact, giving Come back, Jack. Following the E. coli
something away for free might convey tragedy in 1993, when seven people died
some implicit admission of responsibility from eating tainted food at Jack in the Box
for the situation—potentially a detrimen- restaurants, that company changed meat
tal stance. suppliers, instructed employees to turn up
the heat while cooking, and dropped
Autobiographical Referencing prices. Those actions were not sufficient,
Autobiographical referencing is a tool however, as nervous customers defected
advertisers use to emotionally connect to to other restaurants in droves.16 One way
consumers’ past.11 This approach involves that the chain was able to repair its brand
using verbiage such as “Remember was by bringing back “Jack.” Jack, the fic-
when . . . ,” with the intent of imparting tional spokesperson and founder of the
positive and nostalgic feelings. Focus company, wears a suit and has a large
group research done following 9/11 found white clown head. During the 1970s (that
that this type of advertising technique was is, during current parents’ childhood), that
the most comforting to consumers. Con- clown head housed the drive-through inter-
sequently, many advertisers used auto- com. Jack and his humorous advertising
biographical referencing as a means to re- were able to bring life back to the brand
establish trust with their consumers (and with it, sales volume).17 One might
following that tragedy.12 think the nostalgia-building approach
This type of advertising approach might not work, though, if a company,
should work well after a crisis to “remind” such as Wendy’s, has not been particularly
consumers of their past favorable experi- strong in its appeal toward children and
ences—particularly childhood events, as does not have an icon that appeals to chil-
those have the most emotional impact. dren on which to base its positioning
The memory myth on which present efforts. Even in such a situation, autobio-
postcrisis management is based (that graphical referencing or nostalgia cam-
somehow the memory will fade over time) paigns can still be successful.
is frequently mistaken. Patrick and
Folkes, for instance, found that consum- Time in a bottle. The case of Stewart’s
ers’ perception of blame and memory of Root Beer suggests that a company’s past
the Firestone recall did not dissipate over can be created through marketing efforts.
time.13 Stewart’s reports that many adults seem to
By definition, nostalgia means to take remember growing up drinking its frosty
oneself back to an idealized past.14 Re- root beer in bottles. That memory is im-
searchers have identified “nostalgic possible, though, since the company be-
value” as one attribute that facilitates rela- gan full-scale distribution only in the late
tionship building with consumers. Re- 1990s. Prior to that time only Stewart’s
lationship management is particularly fountain drinks were available. It could be
important after a crisis because loyal cus- that the bottles, which are adorned with
tomers will be more “forgiving” and more sayings like “original,” “old-fashioned,”
likely to return.15 Reminding consumers of and “since 1924,” provide consumers the
their own youth and experiences at a par- illusion of a past that they might have
ticular fast-food restaurant might be an shared as a child. Perhaps those memo-
important lever in emotionally reconnect- ries were connected to another brand (say,
ing and generating interest. Hires or Nehi) but consumers misattrib-
108 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly MAY 2006IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI? PERCEPTIONS
uted them to Stewarts’ because of those tising? Might the reference to such memo-
slogans.18 ries (whether real or reconstructed) help
Wendy’s repair the damage to its brand
Reconstructive Memory following the tampering incident? These
The reconstructive view of memory questions guided our investigation.
explains how such a shift in recollections
is possible. While autobiographical cues Hypothetical Model
or advertising might seem to work by and Predictions
igniting memories of past experiences and Our study compares two approaches to
getting the consumer to associate the repairing Wendy’s reputation, namely, the
advertised product with the remembered “Free Frosty” promotion and an advertis-
event, what the consumer remembers may ing campaign based on autobiographical
be different from what actually transpired. referencing. We hypothesize that certain
This can occur because human memory is structural relationships regarding memory
a reconstructive process, which means and affect (see Exhibit 1) hold in the case
that at the time of recall the memory is of the autobiographical ad, but not in what
reconstructed from cues in the present. we use as a control (i.e., the “Free Frosty”
Perhaps the most famous example of a promotion).21 We test the variable, attitude
present-day cue igniting a sequence of toward the ad, to see whether it affects
memories is Marcel Proust’s In Search of childhood associations with Wendy’s. We
Lost Time, which begins with the taste of hypothesized that any such relationship is
petite madeleine cake. While the re- not significant because the ad serves as a
membered event may seem genuine to cue for childhood-memory reconstruc-
the rememberer, it is subject to many tion. It is not important in this context
distortions.19 whether participants like or feel positive
Two of the authors of this article re- about the advertisement itself; what is
ported on a study where participants important is the information that is being
began to associate Hallmark’s use of the delivered that allows consumers to re-
Peanuts characters with advertising from member their past. The intent is to show
their childhood, even though MetLife was that childhood associations with Wendy’s
the firm that used those characters when is the driver of any subsequent attitude
the participants were children. In that toward Wendy’s. That emotional connec-
study, Hallmark benefited from childhood tion should then mitigate any negative
associations with MetLife’s Peanuts- feelings stemming from the chili incident.
based advertising campaigns.20 Within the We also expect there to be differences
fast-food industry, McDonald’s has long between the means for the autobiographi-
positioned itself toward children, with its cal ad and control ad on several measures,
heavy use of Ronald McDonald and most notably, affect toward Wendy’s. We
friends and especially with its Playland predict that the autobiographical ad will
structures. emotionally engage the consumer more
than the sales promotion ad does, and
Research questions. Might it be possi- therefore consumers who see the autobio-
ble that Wendy’s could convince consum- graphical ad will report more favorable
ers that they had happy childhood memo- affect toward Wendy’s than will those who
ries at Wendy’s restaurants by employing see the Frosty ad. Because affect is an im-
autobiographical referencing in its adver- portant part of brand attitude, we predict
MAY 2006 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 109PERCEPTIONS IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI?
Exhibit 1:
Hypothetical Model
Note: n.s. = not significant.
that overall reported attitude toward ad misinforms consumers that they re-
Wendy’s will be more favorable in the au- membered playing in Wendy’s Playland.
tobiographical ad condition. Having a If the consumers then “remember” them-
favorable brand attitude will lead to more selves having that experience, that is evi-
positive feelings toward Wendy’s, less dence the ad infiltrated the consumers’
perceived fault in relation to the tampering memories. Therefore, we predict that the
allegations, and greater likelihood of con- information in the autobiographical ad,
sumers’ returning in the future (all of whether fact or fiction, will be used as
which we refer to as mitigation of current consumers remember their past experi-
situation). ences at Wendy’s. The Frosty ad should
In addition to how an autobiographical have no influence on the control group’s
ad emotionally engages consumers by memories as that ad does not directly refer
cuing their childhood memories, we offer to aspects of past experiences.22
several predictions on what consumers Last, we are also interested in how the
might actually recall from their childhood autobiographical ad affects memories for
based on the reconstructive view of mem- McDonald’s, the actual operator of Play-
ory. First, the ad information will be used land. Because the ad features Playland,
to help consumers reconstruct their past there is the danger that when consumers
experience with Wendy’s. The tested auto- see the Wendy’s Playland ad, they may
biographical ad suggests that consumers think of McDonald’s instead.23 However,
had many family visits to the restaurant— given the reconstructive view of memory,
a suggestion that might cause consumers it is also possible that they will mis-
to “remember” more visits than actually attribute the childhood experience of play-
transpired. To control for the possibility ing on a Playland at McDonald’s if they
that the consumer in fact had many visits see a suggestion that Wendy’s also has
to Wendy’s and to demonstrate the ad’s had Playlands. In fact, Braun, Ellis, and
ability to alter the consumers’ recollection Loftus found that Disney could make con-
of the past, a misleading detail is inserted sumers “remember” shaking hands with
in the advertisement. In this instance, the Bugs Bunny (a Warner Brothers charac-
110 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly MAY 2006IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI? PERCEPTIONS
ter) during their childhood visit to Disney- We enlisted one hundred participants
land by including this reference in Dis- (fifty men and fifty women) with the spe-
ney’s advertising.24 cific aim that the results would be gen-
eralizable to the population at large. Aver-
The Study age age was twenty-three; the youngest
To test our propositions regarding the was nineteen, and the oldest forty-three.
effect that autobiographical referencing Participants were undergraduate students
might have on emotional attitudes toward at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who
Wendy’s, we developed two print adver- received course credit for their participa-
tisements. Both ads featured a picture of a tion. We used the data only from those
Wendy’s building in the center, the red who were born and raised in the United
Wendy’s logo in the lower left, and a pic- States, who were regular fast-food con-
ture of Dave Thomas in the lower right. sumers, and who indicated that they were
The control ad, offering the “Free aware of the Wendy’s situation. We ex-
Frosty,” had an image of a Frosty and the pected awareness to be high because the
word “free” in the upper left, and the top alleged chili tamperer, Anna Ayala, was
headline read, “Come in for our Free from Las Vegas, which meant that this city
Frosty Weekend.” The autobiographical had more media coverage of the incident
ad had a Playland superimposed next to than occurred in other parts of the United
the Wendy’s building, showed a young States.26
child eating a burger, and had the follow- This study employed a between-subjects
ing text in the upper right: “Remember design, which means that participants saw
your family trips to Wendy’s, every week only one version of the ad (either the con-
for tasty burgers and fries. Playing on the trol or the autobiographical) at random.
slide, jumping into the ball pit, swinging During each twenty-minute session,
on the swing sets. Memories you never participants received a written question-
forgot.”25 naire and the target ad. Participants were
Note that the false reference to the Play- given five minutes to read and provide
land was intentional. As explained above, feedback on the ad and rate their attitude
we wanted to determine whether the ad toward the ad. At their own pace they
could evoke memories for experiences at responded to the questionnaire about their
Wendy’s that never actually happened. attitudes toward three fast-food restau-
In doing this, we are not suggesting that rants (i.e., Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and
restaurants should intentionally attempt to Burger King).27 Participants then rated the
alter their consumers’ memories of the extent to which certain positive-affect
past. Our test is just a means to demon- words (i.e., fond, happy, sentimental, af-
28
strate the power that advertising might fectionate) were related to those brands.
have on consumers’ memories and emo- Participants rated how much each restau-
tions. For instance, if participants who see rant was associated with their childhood
the nostalgic ad report a higher instance and provided an estimate of how often
of visiting Wendy’s during their youth they visited as a child.29
(compared to the control group), or of hav- Participants then indicated how likely it
ing experiences at Wendy’s on the Play- was that certain events at Wendy’s may
land, then we know that the advertise- have happened to them as a child—the key
ment was effective in reconstructing their events being “playing on a Playland” and
memories. “weekly visits with the family.” They then
MAY 2006 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 111PERCEPTIONS IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI?
Exhibit 2:
Autobiographical Ad Condition
Note: n.s. = not significant.
repeated those ratings for events at Wendy’s. The remaining paths are all
McDonald’s.30 Last, the participants were strongly positive and significant, support-
asked questions about the Wendy’s situa- ing our hypotheses. That is, the model
tion: whether they were aware of it (and to works well in the autobiographical con-
describe it), how much blame they placed text and demonstrates a way to mitigate
on Wendy’s management, how they felt Wendy’s difficulties.
toward Wendy’s following the incident, Exhibit 3, in contrast, features the re-
the likelihood of their visiting Wendy’s in sults of the analysis of the “Free Frosty”
the future, the likelihood of their buying group. As expected, the structural rela-
chili on a future visit, and the likelihood of tionships are weak. In fact, the model as
their taking their own children to Wendy’s formulated shows a weak fit to the data.33
someday.31 In addition, the first two paths are not sig-
nificant, meaning that the relationship
Model Analysis between advertisement and memory does
Exhibit 2 features the results of the not occur in the control group. The con-
model of the autobiographical group data trast with the autobiographical data
using modeling software. Various mea- model’s results further substantiates our
sures indicated a strong fit of the model to contention that it is better to engage con-
the data.32 As we hypothesized, the path sumers emotionally after a crisis situation
from attitude toward the ad to childhood than to appeal to their rational side by
associations with Wendy’s is not signifi- offering free merchandise.
cant, reinforcing the notion that the overall
feeling about the ad itself or its aesthetics Mean Differences
was not important. What was important As predicted, in comparison with par-
was how the ad’s information influenced ticipants who saw the Frosty ad, those who
the childhood memories associated with viewed the autobiographical ad reported
112 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly MAY 2006IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI? PERCEPTIONS
Exhibit 3:
Control Group
Note: n.s. = not significant.
more favorable affect toward Wendy’s; Specifically, when asked how confident
more favorable attitudes toward Wendy’s; they were that certain events had hap-
a more favorable opinion about the com- pened to them at a Wendy’s restaurant dur-
pany in view of the tampering, including a ing their childhood, those who received
stronger belief that Wendy’s was not at the autobiographical ad reported greater
fault; more positive feelings toward confidence than did control participants
Wendy’s in view of the incident; greater that all of the following four events had
likelihood of returning; greater likelihood happened to them at a Wendy’s restaurant:
of ordering the chili in the future; and finding an extra toy, going through a drive-
greater likelihood of taking their own kids through after a game, going on a weekly
to Wendy’s someday.34 See Exhibit 4 for family trip to Wendy’s, and playing at a
the means. Wendy’s Playland.36 Note that the ad had
suggested frequent family trips (which
Reconstructive-Memory Effects could be an accurate memory), as well as
While the findings above should the Playland reference (which could not
encourage companies that face public have occurred). It appears that just refer-
relations challenges like those faced by ring to childhood events made all the
Wendy’s, our study also demonstrates re- given events seem plausible. That meant
constructive memory. Indeed, we found that the ad was effective in providing a
that when compared with the control frame in which those who received the
group, those who received the autobio- autobiographical reference colored their
graphical ad associated Wendy’s more memories of Wendy’s.
with their childhood, reported enjoying
Wendy’s more during their childhood, and Competitor Effects
estimated visiting Wendy’s more often The final issue of interest is what hap-
during their childhood than those who pens to perceptions of competitors when
received the control ad (see Exhibit 4). 35 another brand tries to hijack memories
MAY 2006 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 113PERCEPTIONS IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI?
Exhibit 4:
Wendy’s Results
Free
Auto- Frosty
biographical (Control)
Ad Ad
Overall mean differences
Affect toward Wendy’s (composite measure, higher
values = more positive, on 10-point scale) 5.2 3.7
Attitude toward Wendy’s (composite measure, higher
values = more positive, on 10-point scale) 7.5 5.8
Opinion of Wendy’s after tampering (1= not very
favorable, 10 = very favorable) 9.2 6.6
Belief that Wendy’s was not at fault (1= completely
Wendy’s fault, 10 = not at all Wendy’s fault) 8.0 5.1
Likelihood of revisiting Wendy’s (1= not very likely,
10 = very likely) 7.8 4.7
Likelihood of buying the chili in the future (1 = not
very likely, 10 = very likely) 5.6 3.3
Likelihood of taking kids to Wendy’s someday (1 = not
very likely, 10 = very likely) 7.1 4.4
Reconstructive memory effects
Wendy’s association with childhood (1 = not at all
associated, 10 = highly associated) 4.4 2.2
How much enjoyed Wendy’s as a child (1 = not at all,
10 = extremely well) 4.8 2.7
Estimation of how often visited during childhood
(1 = never, 10 = every day) 3.2 1.9
Likelihood found extra toy at Wendy’s (as child)
(1 = not very likely, 10 = very likely) 2.5 1.7
Likelihood went to Wendy’s drive-through after a
game (as child) (1 = not very likely, 10 = very likely) 2.3 1.3
Weekly family visits to Wendy’s as a child (1 = not
very likely, 10 = very likely) 3.8 1.7
Played at a Wendy’s Playland (false) (1 = not very
likely, 10 = very likely) 2.1 1.1
associated with their brand. In this case, graphical ad made them think of Mc-
our hypothetical Wendy’s campaign Donald’s. One participant wrote, “The ad
attempted to use McDonald’s Playland as reminded me of McDonald’s because of
a springboard for reconstructing memo- the Playland; never seen one at Wendy’s.”
ries. One might expect that using a com- None of the control ad participants made
petitor’s well-known attribute would an association to McDonald’s when
cause consumers to think of the competi- viewing the Frosty ad.
tor rather than the advertised brand. That Even though some participants made
was the case for the seven participants an association with McDonald’s, though,
who mentioned that the Wendy’s autobio- that did not benefit McDonald’s. There
114 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly MAY 2006IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI? PERCEPTIONS
Exhibit 5:
Competitor Effects
Free
Auto- Frosty
biographical (Control)
Ad Ad
Overall feelings toward McDonald’s
Affect toward McDonald’s (composite measure,
higher values = more positive, on 10-point scale) 5.2 4.7
Attitude toward McDonald’s (composite measure,
higher values = more positive, on 10-point scale) 5.8 5.4
Reconstructive memory effects
McDonald’s association with childhood (1 = not
at all associated, 10 = highly associated) 5.2 4.7
How much enjoyed McDonald’s as a child
(1= not at all, 10 = extremely well) 5.8 5.4
Estimation of how often visited during childhood
(1 = never, 10 = every day) 6.9 6.8
Likelihood found extra toy at McDonald’s (as child)
(1 = not very likely, 10 = very likely) 3.8 3.7
Likelihood went to McDonald’s drive-through after a
game (as child) (1 = not very likely, 10 = very likely) 2.9 3.1
Weekly family visits to McDonald’s as a child
(1 = not very likely, 10 = very likely) 6.2 6.2
Played at a McDonald’s Playland (1 = not very likely,
10 = very likely) 6.2 6.4
were no differences in attitude or affect Wendy’s reputation. We found that those
toward McDonald’s between those partic- who received the autobiographical ad re-
ipants who had viewed the autobiographi- ported having more and fonder memories
cal ad and participants who viewed the of visiting Wendy’s as a child, as well as a
control ad (see Exhibit 5). There were also greater likelihood of returning despite the
no differences between the two groups in tampering incident. In addition, we found
childhood association, enjoyment at Mc- that the ad did lead to reconstructive ef-
Donald’s during childhood, or estimate fects, where those exposed to the false ad
of how often they visited McDonald’s. In “remembered” playing at Wendy’s Play-
addition, there was no difference between land during their childhood. At the same
the participant groups as to the partici- time, participants’ feelings toward Mc-
pants’ confidence that certain events dur- Donald’s were not damaged by the
ing their childhood had happened at a Mc- Wendy’s advertisement. Overall feelings
Donald’s restaurant.37 and attitude toward McDonald’s were the
same for both the autobiographical ad
Discussion group and those viewing the control ad.
This study explored whether the use The Wendy’s ad seemed to either repress
of autobiographical referencing would or lead to misattribution of the Mc-
be a helpful technique in resuscitating Donald’s Playland memories.
MAY 2006 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 115PERCEPTIONS IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI?
To be sure, the autobiographical ad was engender the brand to the consumer at a
effective in stirring up memories. After deeper emotional level.
viewing the ad, one participant wrote, “It
pulls your emotional strings . . . made me Managerial Implications
think of my own childhood.” Another Though this article was focused on how
commented, “Use of the Playland was to employ reconstructed memory to help
effective in bringing back childhood.” A restore a brand damaged by a crisis, the
third participant wrote, “Makes me want importance of advertising and manage-
to go to Wendy’s to play.” Still another ment of consumer experiences (through
responded, “I have a big family, so I was their memories) is an important lesson for
thinking of all of it in Wendy’s, and when I all hospitality organizations. The finger
was a little kid I remember how cool the incident just exacerbated Wendy’s brand-
ball pit was. And then I thought of all the management challenges.39 With the death
different games we liked to play while of Dave Thomas, the company seems to
waiting for our food.” have lost its core identity, along with its
In contrast, most people who saw the voice and spokesperson. A marketing ap-
control ad focused on the “Free Frosty” proach that restores the company’s voice
promotion. This was not necessarily a and identity could turn this crisis into a
positive for Wendy’s, however, as one par- success. After all, when else is the world
ticipant commented, “When I see the word watching a company’s every move?
free, it makes me interested but I’ve got to The traditional view of waiting and let-
know what I have to do to get a free ting consumers forget the crisis is danger-
frosty. . . . I become skeptical without ous and often ineffective. Wendy’s crisis
knowing everything.” Another wrote, should have been resolved by the arrest of
“The ad makes me think about the finger the false accuser since that event ad-
incident and how Wendy’s is trying to get dressed consumers’ need for facts, data,
back the market share they lost during the and hard information. Clearly, though,
scandal.” One other participant took that facts and information are not sufficient in
idea a step further, as follows: “I am skep- such a situation. The postcrisis period
tical about free stuff, especially from should address consumers’ emotional
Wendy’s. If they were not at fault, why needs as well (e.g., reassurance, comfort,
give away free stuff?” In fact, eleven (22 trust). The company’s communication
percent) of control participants, as com- should also reinforce its values and invoke
pared to five (10 percent) of autobiograph- its symbols. Price promotions, coupons,
ical participants, directly mentioned the and freebies may gain momentary atten-
finger incident—a statistically significant tion, but their effects soon wear off while
difference.38 One response to the advertis- failing to instill consumer trust. To the
ing also confirmed the traditional view of contrary, we found that offering promo-
waiting to advertise the product until tions raises issues regarding the com-
memory fades. This participant wrote, pany’s responsibility in the crisis.
“The chili finger news makes me wanna
back up and buy somewhere else instead.” Rebuilding strategy. Another lesson for
In the end, the results demonstrate that postcrisis management is that brand man-
postcrisis management through autobio- agers can tap into the heritage of the brand
graphical referencing is effective and can as a reference point (i.e., building a new
strategy). Thus, the restaging is able to
116 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly MAY 2006IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI? PERCEPTIONS
capitalize on strong emotions and connec- their field. Whether Wendy’s uses this
tions that already exist in the marketplace. mishap to reshape its future will become
In our study, Wendy’s was able to capital- apparent over time.
ize on happy experiences at McDonald’s. Our study provides Wendy’s with one
Because Wendy’s was built on “old- possible approach to countering the nega-
fashioned” hamburgers and features a tive publicity of the chili-tampering inci-
nostalgic-looking logo, the brand was in a dent. We found the reconstructive mem-
good position to appeal to consumers’ ory approach to be more effective in
nostalgia. However, over time, some of improving Wendy’s reputation than its
these associations may not be so strong or status quo position. Wendy’s probably is
apparent in the marketplace. The child- not going to construct its own Playland-
hood play area association was an obvious type facilities, but there may be less dra-
opportunity, but as the quick-service in- matic ways to invoke an emotional con-
dustry evolves, other associations may nection. The chain could hearken to
become more prominent (e.g., tie-ins with founder Dave Thomas, his daughter
Disney movies). Thus, as the marketplace Melinda (Wendy, for short), and the “old-
changes, there continue to be opportu- fashioned burger” iconography. These
nities for repositioning the brand by de- already appear on the chain’s Web site, but
signing a promotional strategy or brand they all could be woven together in adver-
strategy that taps into deep emotions. Ad- tising to make for an emotionally engag-
ditionally, though our focus was on fast- ing trip down memory lane for consumers.
food restaurants, our results may have The key for Wendy’s success (as well as
implications for resorts and restaurants that of other brands) is to identify the par-
that have tremendous brand equity at ticular emotional trigger or experience
stake. that bonds the brand with the customer.
Beyond recovering from the crisis at Those key experiences can be uncovered
hand, companies that have rebounded with psychoanalytic probing techniques,
with renewed energy have used their mis- such as early memory probing or picture
fortune to reshape the playing field. Fol- elicitation techniques that grab the con-
lowing the fatal Tylenol tampering inci- sumers’ subconscious mind.40
dent, McNeil Labs developed safety seals
to reassure customers—a development
that is now an industry standard. With its Endnotes
new packaging, Tylenol instantly elimi-
1. For example, see Kate MacArthur, “Chili-Fin-
nated concerns about product tampering ger Fiasco Continues to Poke at Wendy’s,” Ad-
and reinforced its stance of being a safe vertising Age 76 (April 25, 2005): 20.
analgesic. Similarly, Jack in the Box insti- 2. Allan J. Liddle, “Tipster Fingers Hoax Suspect
gated the highest safety standards for as Wendy’s Awaits Sales Comeback,” Nation’s
Restaurant News 39 (May 23, 2005): 3-5.
cooking beef in the quick service restau- 3. Numerous Web sites criticized Wendy’s “Free
rant industry. While it also needed an Frosty” promotional efforts; here is one that
emotion-based advertising campaign to reported on the “frosty” reception: Rick Aris-
totle Munarriz, “Wendy’s Frosty Reception,”
win back customers, the chain established The Motley Fool.com, published on May 16,
its food-safety status. In contrast, compa- 2005, at www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/
nies that did not learn from their crisis mft05051603.htm.
4. For instance, see Laurence Barton, “Crisis
(such as Northwest Airlines) missed a Management: Preparing for and Managing Di-
great opportunity to become a leader in sasters,” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Admin-
MAY 2006 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 117PERCEPTIONS IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI?
istration Quarterly 35, no. 2 (April 1994): 59- 14. Daniel D. Muehling and David E. Sprott, “The
65; and Roland T. Rust, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Power of Reflection: An Empirical Examina-
and Katherine N. Lemon, “Customer Centered tion of Nostalgia Advertising Effects,” Journal
Brand Management,” Harvard Business Re- of Advertising 33, no. 3 (2004): 25-36.
view 82, no. 9 (September 1, 2004): 110-18. 15. For a description of what makes a brand wor-
5. For a cognitive neuropsychological view of re- thy of a relationship, see Charles L. Martin,
constructive memory, see Daniel S. Schacter, “Engineering High-Meaning, High-Involve-
Searching for Memory (New York: Basic ment Brands as a Relationship Marketing
Books, 1996); for applications to marketing Strategy,” Journal of Product Management 7,
and advertising, see Kathryn A. Braun, “Post- no. 1 (1998): 6-26.
experience Effects on Consumer Memory,” 16. “Who’s This Jack Guy Anyway?” Restaurants
Journal of Consumer Research 25 (March & Institutions 108 (July 1, 1998): 48; see also
1999): 319-34. Louise Kramer, “Jack in the Box Uses Ads,
6. See Allan D. Shocker, Rajendra K. Srivastava, Menu to Fuel Comeback,” Advertising Age 68
and Robert W. Ruekert, “Challenges and Op- (December 1, 1997): 50.
portunities Facing Brand Management: An In- 17. Bill McDowell, “Jack in the Box Battles Back
troduction to the Special Issue,” Journal of with Some Help from a Clown,” Advertising
Marketing Research 31 (May 1994): 149-58; Age 67 (November 25, 1996): 11.
for a discussion of the importance of loyalty 18. G. W. Prince, “Yesterday, Today and Tomor-
when something goes wrong, see Anna S. row,” Beverage World, March 15, 2000, pp. 52-
Mattila, “The Impact of Relationship Type on 54.
Consumer Loyalty in a Context of Service 19. Elizabeth F. Loftus, “Creating False Memo-
Failure,” Journal of Service Research 2 (No- ries,” Scientific American 277, no. 3 (Septem-
vember 2001): 91-101. ber 1997): 70-75. See also Marcia K. Johnson,
7. See Harvard Business Essentials: Crisis Man- Mary A. Foley, Aurora F. Suengas, and Carol
agement (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business L. Raye, “Phenomenal Characteristics of
School Press, 2004). Memories for Perceived and Imagined Auto-
8. Kimberly Cowden and Timothy L. Sellnow, biographical Events,” Journal of Experimental
“Issues Advertising as Crisis Communication: Psychology: General 117 (December 1988):
Northwest Airlines’ Use of Image Restoration 371-76, noting that consumers are more likely
Strategies during the 1998 Pilot’s Strike,” to have source confusion errors when there are
Journal of Business Communication 39 (April similarities between messages.
2002): 193-220. (While this article deals pri- 20. Kathryn A. Braun-LaTour and Michael S.
marily with Northwest’s advertising after a pi- LaTour, “Assessing the Long-Term Impact of a
lot strike, it mentions the snowstorm as well.) Consistent Advertising Campaign on Con-
For a detailed discussion of the Detroit snow- sumer Memory,” Journal of Advertising 33,
storm, see Roger Hallowell, “Northwest and no. 2 (2004): 49-61.
the Detroit Snowstorm,” Harvard Business 21. We hypothesize that the structural relations
School Case no. 800053 (Harvard Business proposed hold in the case of the autobiographi-
School, Cambridge, MA, July 1998). cal ad context and not the control ad. There-
9. Liddle, “Tipster Fingers Hoax Suspect as fore, the hypothetical model references the ex-
Wendy’s Awaits Sales Comeback.” perimental group’s analysis. The same
10. Phillip Kotler, John Bowen, and James formulation is tested with the control group to
Makens, Marketing for Hospitality and Tour- verify the lack of viable structural relations
ism, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice there.
Hall, 2003). 22. The same logic regarding usage of false infor-
11. See Hans Baumgartner, Mita Sujan, and James mation was used in Kathryn A. Braun-LaTour,
R. Bettman, “Autobiographical Memories, Af- Michael S. LaTour, Jacqueline E. Pickrell, and
fect and Consumer Information Processing,” Elizabeth F. Loftus, “How (and When) Adver-
Journal of Consumer Psychology 1, no. 1 tising Can Influence Memory for Consumer
(1992): 53-82. Experience,” Journal of Advertising 33, no. 4
12. See Suzanne Vranica, “Focus Groups Favor (2004): 7-26. Note that we do not endorse the
Nostalgic Messages,” Wall Street Journal, Oc- intentional falsifying of documents, as per
tober 10, 2001, eastern edition, p. B6. John E. H. Sherry, “False and Misleading Pro-
13. Va n e s s a Pa t r i c k a n d Va l e r i e Fo l ke s , motional Material: A Word of Caution,” Cor-
“Whodunnit? Accessibility of Blameworthi- nell Hotel and Restaurant Administration
ness in the Firestone Tire Recall,” American Quarterly 34, no. 4 (August 1993): 14-15.
Marketing Association Conference Proceed- 23. See Kevin Lane Keller, “Memory and Evalua-
ings 13 (2002): 8. tion Effects in Competitive Advertising Envi-
118 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly MAY 2006IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI? PERCEPTIONS
ronments,” Journal of Consumer Research 17 Burke and Julie A. Edell, “The Impact of Feel-
(March 1991): 463-76. ings on Ad-Based Affect and Cognition,”
24. Kathryn A. Braun, Rhiannon Ellis, and Eliza- Journal of Marketing Research 16 (February
beth F. Loftus, “Make My Memory: How Ad- 1989): 69-83. Participants rated how much
vertising Can Change Our Memories of the each word related to the restaurants. The scales
Past,” Psychology & Marketing 19 (January were anchored by 1 = not at all associated and
2001): 1-23. That research was based on the 10 = highly associated. The four affect scales
following earlier investigated idea that imag- were highly correlated, Cronbach’s alpha = .93
ining an event from childhood makes it seem for Wendy’s and Cronbach’s alpha = .89 for
more likely to have happened: MaryAnne McDonald’s.
Garry, Charles G. Manning, Elizabeth F. Lof- 29. Specifically, they rated on a 1 to 10 point scale,
tus, and Stephen J. Sherman, “Imagination In- anchored by 1 = not at all associated and 10 =
flation: Imagining a Childhood Event Inflates highly associated, the question, “How much
Confidence that It Occurred,” Psychonomic do you associate _____ with your childhood?”
Bulletin & Review 3, no. 2 (1996): 208-14. They answered the question, “How much did
25. Though experiments have not often been used you enjoy going to _____ when you were a
in hospitality research, they offer an excellent child?” anchored by 1 = not at all and 10 = ex-
way to theoretically test different strategies; tremely well. They were also asked to give an
here, an experiment allowed us to compare the estimate of how often they went to each fast-
status quo promotional ad against the autobio- food restaurant as a child, anchored by 1 =
graphical ad. See Ann Lynn and Michael Lynn, never and 10 = every day. These three mea-
“Experiments and Quasi-Experiments: Meth- sures were correlated, Cronbach’s alpha = .87
ods for Evaluating Marketing Options,” Cor- for Wendy’s and Cronbach’s alpha = .83 for
nell Hotel and Restaurant Administration McDonald’s.
Quarterly 44, no. 2 (April 2003): 75-84. Data 30. Two filler events were also included: “Finding
were collected in late May and early June an extra toy in a kid’s meal” and “Going
2005, several weeks after Ayala was arrested. through the drive-through after winning a
Note that the autobiographical ad contained game.” Participants rated how confident they
more words than the control ad did. Future re- were that these four events happened to them
search might consider looking at whether the under the age of ten at Wendy’s, where 1 = not
number of words makes any difference. at all confident and 10 = extremely confident.
26. Wendy’s spokesman Denny Lynch said the They then rated their confidence these same
sales slump was greatest in San Jose (where the events had occurred to them at McDonald’s.
allegation was made) and in Las Vegas (where 31. The fault measure was anchored by 1 = com-
the incident generated the most publicity). pletely Wendy’s fault and 10 = not at all
“The sales in Las Vegas have been hurt as if the Wendy’s fault. The feeling toward Wendy’s af-
incident occurred there, which isn’t fair,” ter-the-incident measure was anchored by 1 =
Lynch said, as quoted in Brian Haynes, “LV not very favorable and 10 = very favorable.
Woman Arrested in Finger Case,” Las Vegas How likely they are to visit Wendy’s in the fu-
R ev i ew Jo u r n a l , A p r i l 2 2 , 2 0 0 5 , ture, how likely they are to order Wendy’s chili
www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/ in the future, and how likely they are to take
Apr-22-Fri-2005/news/26353584.html. their own children (once they have them) to
27. Attitudes were measured on four Likert-type Wendy’s were all anchored by 1 = not very
10-point scales anchored by unfavorable-fa- likely and 10 = very likely. These five measures
vorable, bad-good, pleasant-unpleasant, and were highly correlated, Cronbach’s alpha =
negative-positive. Higher values indicate more .88, and were combined for the purpose of our
positive attitudes. These scales were highly causal model.
correlated (Cronbach’s alpha = .89 for attitude 32. Maximum likelihood analysis was used for
toward the ad, Cronbach’s alpha = .95 for model testing. For the autobiographical group,
Wendy’s, and Cronbach’s alpha = .95 for Mc- χ2 = 11.29, p = .08, 6 df, goodness of fit index
Donald’s), so they were combined to form an (GFI) = .923. A nonsignificant chi-square is
attitude index. Note that Burger King was highly desirable as an indicator of fit. The
meant to be filler so as not to draw the partici- common benchmark for GFI is .9. See James
pants’ attention directly to the Wendy’s and L. Arbuckle and Werner Wothke, Amos 4.0 Us-
McDonald’s comparison (though the attitude ers Guide (Chicago: Small Waters, 1999).
toward Burger King scales were also corre- 33. For the control group, χ2 = 26.77, p < .001,
lated). 6 df, GFI = .847.
28. These four affect adjectives, which were 34. The t-test statistics for these measures are af-
thought to represent positive, nostalgic feel- fect toward Wendy’s, t(98) = 3.26, p = .001; atti-
ings, were adapted from Marian Chapman tude toward Wendy’s, t(98) = 4.7, p < .0001; fault
MAY 2006 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 119PERCEPTIONS IS THAT A FINGER IN MY CHILI?
for the situation, t(98) = 4.76, p < .0001; feelings McDonald’s were not significant; neither were
after the situation, t(98) = 6.02, p < .0001; reward attitudes toward Wendy’s and attitude toward
with visit, t(98) = 5.7, p < .0001; buy chili, t(98) = McDonald’s.
3.31, p < .0001; and take children, t(98) = 4.2, p < 38. The number of people who mentioned the fin-
.0001. ger incident upon viewing the ad was signifi-
35. The t-test statistics for these measures are as- cantly larger (22 percent) in the control
sociate Wendy’s with their childhood, t(98) = (Frosty) group than in the autobiographical
4.37, p < .0001; enjoyed Wendy’s during their group (10 percent), χ2(N = 100) = 2.67, p = .10.
childhood, t(98) = 3.78, p = .0003; and how often 39. MacArthur, “Chili-Finger Fiasco Continues to
frequented Wendy’s, t(98) = 3.28, p = .001. Poke at Wendy’s.”
36. The t-test statistics for these measures are find- 40. For a discussion of the Zaltman Metaphor
ing an extra toy, t(98) = 2.4, p = .01; drive- Elicitation Technique, an in-depth interview
through, t(98) = 3.18, p = .002; family trip, t(98) = method to dig into emotional brand connec-
4.8, p < .0001; and Wendy’s Playland, t(98) = tions, see Gerald Zaltman, How Customers
3.94, p < .0001. Think (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business
37. All of these measures were on a 10-point scale School Press, 2003); see also Hy
with higher values indicating more positive Mariampolski, Qualitative Market Research:
feelings and attitudes (or higher confidence). A Comprehensive Guide (Thousand Oaks, CA:
None of these differences was significantly Sage, 2001), for a discussion of early memory
different. In addition, the correlations between probing.
feelings toward Wendy’s and feelings toward
Kathryn A. Braun-LaTour, Ph.D., is an
assistant professor of hospitality marketing
in the William F. Harrah College of Hotel
Administration, at the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas (kathryn.latour@unlv.edu). Michael
S. LaTour, Ph.D., is a professor and chair in
the Department of Marketing, College of
Business, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
(michael.latour@unlv.edu). Elizabeth F.
Loftus, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor at
the University of California, Irvine (eloftus@
uci.edu). The authors thank Robin Chamoy
for inspiring the idea behind one of the adver-
tisements used in this research.
120 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly MAY 2006You can also read
