Title: How do social media crisis response strategies shape Chinese food e-commerce consumers’ perception of brand accountability and trust?
标题：社交媒体危机应对策略如何影响中餐电商消费者对品牌责任感和信任度的看法？
1.0 Introduction
1.0 介绍
In Chinese food e-commerce sector, social media platforms like Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Douyin play a vital role in shaping brand perception during crises. This study explores how different crisis response strategies—such as apology, denial, corrective action, and justification—affect consumer trust and reflect corporate accountability. Emphasizing the importance of cultural factors like “face” and moral responsibility, it adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative survey data with qualitative analysis of real social media cases, to offer context-specific insights into effective crisis communication in the Chinese digital environment.
在印度食品电子商务领域，微博、小红书和抖音等社交媒体平台在危机期间塑造品牌认知方面发挥着至关重要的作用。本研究探讨了不同的危机应对策略（例如道歉、否认、纠正措施和理由）如何影响消费者信任并反映企业责任。它强调“面子”和道德责任等文化因素的重要性，采用混合方法，将定量调查数据与真实社交媒体案例的定性分析相结合，为中国数字环境中有效的危机沟通提供具体背景的见解。
2.0 Literature Review
2.0 文献综述
2.1 Crisis Response Strategies in Social Media Contexts
2.1 社交媒体环境中的危机应对策略
Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) by Coombs (2007) argues that perceived organizational responsibility—shaped by crisis type—determines the effectiveness of response strategies such as denial, apology, justification, and corrective action (Coombs & Holladay, 2002). Research finds that when fault is attributed to the organization, apologies and corrective actions are most effective (Coombs & Holladay, 2008). However, these conclusions are rooted in Western norms like individualism and directness (Choi & Lin, 2009), which may not hold in collectivist societies like China, where communication tends to be indirect and face-saving (Kice & Klyueva, 2022).
Coombs（2007）的情境危机沟通理论（SCCT）认为，由危机类型塑造的组织感知责任决定了诸如否认、道歉、辩解和纠正行动等应对策略的有效性（Coombs & Holladay，2002）。研究发现，当错误被归咎于组织时，道歉和纠正行动是最有效的（Coombs & Holladay，2008）。然而，这些结论植根于西方的规范，如个人主义和直接性（Choi & Lin，2009），这可能不适用于像中国这样的集体主义社会，那里的沟通往往是间接的和保有面子的（Kice & Klyueva，2022）。
2.2 Corporate Accountability in Crisis Communication
2.2 危机沟通中的企业责任
Corporate accountability extends beyond legal liability to include moral and ethical obligations. In China, expectations are influenced by Confucian values such as benevolence (ren) and courtesy (li) (Hung-Baesecke & Chen, 2015). Brands that fail to demonstrate sincerity and moral responsibility—especially on platforms like Weibo or WeChat—can face intense public backlash, even in the absence of legal fault (Chen, Ji & Men, 2021). Yet, systematic research on how Chinese consumers assess corporate accountability via social media remains limited (Myers, 2016).
企业责任超越了法律责任，包括道德和伦理义务。在中国，期望受到儒家价值观的影响，如仁 （任） 和礼 （礼） （Hung-Baesecke & Chen，2015）。未能展示诚意和道德责任感的品牌——尤其是在像微博或微信这样的平台上——即使没有法律过错，也可能面临强烈的公众反对（Chen， Ji & Men， 2021）。然而，关于中国消费者如何通过社交媒体评估企业责任的系统研究仍然有限（Myers，2016 年）。
2.3 Brand Perception and Trust Repair
2.3 品牌认知和信任修复
Brand perception comprises trust, credibility, and emotional assurance (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001). In food-related crises, these dimensions are critical. While Western consumers value direct responsibility-taking, Chinese consumers prioritize harmony, humility, and emotional sincerity—values underrepresented in traditional SCCT models. Evidence on how indirect or defensive responses affect trust in China’s digital market remains sparse.
品牌认知包括信任、可信度和情感保证（Chaudhuri & Holbrook，2001）。在与粮食相关的危机中，这些维度至关重要。西方消费者重视直接承担责任，而中国消费者优先考虑和谐、谦逊和情感真诚——这些价值观在传统的 SCCT 模式中没有得到充分体现。关于间接或防御性回应如何影响中国数字市场信任的证据仍然很少。
2.4 Cultural Dimensions in Crisis Communication
2.4 危机沟通中的文化维度
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory (1984) helps explain variations in crisis communication. In collectivist societies like China, conflict avoidance and social harmony guide consumer reactions. Face culture amplifies the role of symbolic and emotionally attuned responses, which may outperform rational or defensive messaging. However, SCCT, grounded in Western contexts, often overlooks these nuances (Thelen & Formchuk, 2022).
Hofstede 的文化维度理论 （1984） 有助于解释危机沟通的变化。在像中国这样的集体主义社会中，避免冲突和社会和谐会引导消费者的反应。面孔文化放大了象征性和情感协调反应的作用，这可能优于理性或防御性的信息传递。然而，基于西方背景的 SCCT 往往忽视了这些细微差别（Thelen & Formchuk，2022）。
2.5 Crisis Communication in China’s Food E-commerce Industry
2.5 中国食品电商行业的危机沟通
China’s food e-commerce sector is marked by high digital sensitivity and regulatory scrutiny. Cases like Three Squirrels and Zhong Xuegao reveal how reputational damage can arise rapidly from emotionally charged online responses (Xu et al., 2021). On Xiaohongshu, emotional sincerity often outweighs factual accuracy (Wang et al., 2021). Nonetheless, most literature still relies on Western models or simulated cases, failing to reflect real-time, community-driven dynamics (Sachdev & Sauber, 2023; Hong & Tran Van Dung, 2024).
中国的食品电子商务行业的特点是数字敏感性高，并受到监管审查。像 Three Squirrels 和 Zhong Xuegao 这样的案例揭示了情绪化的在线反应如何迅速导致声誉损害（Xu et al.， 2021）。在小红书上，情感上的真诚往往超过事实的准确性（Wang et al.， 2021）。尽管如此，大多数文献仍然依赖于西方模型或模拟案例，未能反映实时的、社区驱动的动态（Sachdev & Sauber，2023;Hong & Tran Van Dung，2024 年）。
2.6 Methodological Gaps and Rationale for Mixed Methods
2.6 混合方法的方法差距和基本原理
Existing studies often rely on hypothetical cases lacking ecological and cultural validity. Few incorporate real data from Chinese platforms or apply mixed methods that combine quantitative breadth with qualitative depth. This study addresses the gap by using a sequential explanatory design, blending survey-based measurement of trust and responsibility with case analysis of actual crises on social media.
现有的研究往往依赖于缺乏生态和文化有效性的假设案例。很少有项目采用来自中国平台的真实数据，或采用将定量广度与定性深度相结合的混合方法。本研究通过使用顺序解释设计来解决差距，将基于调查的信任和责任测量与社交媒体上实际危机的案例分析相结合。
2.7 Research Gaps and Contributions
2.7 研究差距和贡献
Although SCCT and stakeholder models are widely used, their application in China’s food e-commerce context remains limited. Cultural adaptation is essential given the industry’s trust dependency and emotional sensitivity.
尽管 SCCT 和利益相关者模型被广泛使用，但它们在中国食品电子商务中的应用仍然有限。鉴于该行业的信任依赖和情感敏感性，文化适应是必不可少的。
This study contributes by:
本研究通过以下方式做出贡献：
Testing culturally relevant variables;
测试与文化相关的变量;
Using real Chinese social media data;
使用真实的中国社交媒体数据;
Offering practical insights for crisis communication tailored to collectivist, emotion-driven markets.
为集体主义、情感驱动的市场提供量身定制的危机沟通实用见解。
3.0 Theoretical Framework
3.0 理论框架
This study adopts a combined theoretical framework based on the following two theories.
本研究采用基于以下两种理论的组合理论框架。
3.1 Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT)
3.1 情境危机沟通理论 （SCCT）
The first theory in this study is the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (Coombs, 2007), which states that crisis communication strategies should be consistent with stakeholders' views on the attribution of crisis responsibility. SCCT divides crises into three basic types: victim-type, accidental-type, and preventable-type, with the last type further differentiated by moral outrage (Coombs & Tachkova, 2023). Recent research has extended SCCT to include moral outrage (intense and greedy) as a boundary condition, pointing out that when moral condemnation is reinforced in a moral revolution (scandal or willful toxic behavior), traditional compromises (such as apologies) may be insufficient. In addition, corporate social responsibility communication (Ham and Kim, 2017) is a boundary condition that moderates crisis outcomes, where motivation mitigates reputation recovery in unexpected crises but enhances reputation recovery when they are perceived as real crises.
本研究的第一个理论是情境危机沟通理论 （Coombs， 2007），它指出危机沟通策略应与利益相关者对危机责任归因的看法保持一致。SCCT 将危机分为三种基本类型：受害者型、意外型和可预防型，最后一种类型进一步区分为道德愤怒（Coombs & Tachkova，2023）。最近的研究将 SCCT 扩展到包括道德愤怒（强烈和贪婪）作为边界条件，指出当道德谴责在道德革命（丑闻或故意的有毒行为）中得到强化时，传统的妥协（如道歉）可能是不够的。此外，企业社会责任沟通 （Ham and Kim， 2017） 是缓和危机结果的边界条件，其中动机在意外危机中减轻了声誉恢复，但在它们被视为真正的危机时促进了声誉恢复。
This study uses SCCT to study how Chinese food e-commerce consumers respond to social media crises, intending to apply the attribution of responsibility for social media crises and moral outrage to the concepts of brand trust and behavioral intentions. By combining SCCT with corporate social responsibility and moral psychology, the framework extends the understanding of the crisis communication process in today's digital environment.
本研究使用 SCCT 研究中餐电商消费者如何应对社交媒体危机，旨在将社交媒体危机和道德愤怒的责任归因应用于品牌信任和行为意图的概念。通过将 SCCT 与企业社会责任和道德心理学相结合，该框架扩展了对当今数字环境中危机沟通过程的理解。
3.2 Stakeholder Theory
3.2 利益相关者理论
In fact, cultivating consumers' sense of responsibility in crises is more desirable for brand image building. Therefore, ST provides an important theoretical perspective for studying how companies balance the various needs of stakeholders in crises. Mahajan et al. (2023) pointed out that, contrary to the classic thinking of prioritizing shareholder interests, ST guides companies to consider stakeholders such as consumers, employees, regulators, and communities in high-risk situations such as social media crises. In the Chinese food e-commerce market, consumer trust (with remediation as an example) and regulatory compliance remain substantive issues facing companies facing crises on social media. Diers-Lawson (2019) emphasizes the identification and management of multiple stakeholders while providing crisis communication strategies, seeking to rebuild trust relationships during crises through differentiated and transparent stakeholder communication. The rapid development of social media technology has enabled the accurate targeting of specific stakeholder groups, thus identifying strategic stakeholder communication as the key to effective crisis management.
事实上，培养消费者在危机中的责任感对于品牌形象塑造更为可取。因此，ST 为研究公司如何在危机中平衡利益相关者的各种需求提供了重要的理论视角。Mahajan et al. （2023） 指出，与优先考虑股东利益的经典思维相反，ST 引导公司考虑消费者、员工、监管机构和处于社交媒体危机等高风险情况下的社区等利益相关者。在中国食品电子商务市场，消费者信任（例如补救）和监管合规仍然是在社交媒体上面临危机的公司面临的实质性问题。Diers-Lawson （2019） 强调识别和管理多个利益相关者，同时提供危机沟通策略，寻求通过差异化和透明的利益相关者沟通在危机期间重建信任关系。社交媒体技术的快速发展使准确定位特定的利益相关者群体成为可能，从而将战略性的利益相关者沟通确定为有效危机管理的关键。
Therefore, crisis response requires combining ST with crisis communication theory to construct a systematic analytical framework. Therefore, this framework can be used to determine how companies' responses to crises demonstrate their responsibility and how it affects brands and maintains stakeholder trust.
因此，危机应对需要将 ST 与危机沟通理论相结合，构建一个系统的分析框架。因此，该框架可用于确定公司对危机的反应如何展示其责任，以及它如何影响品牌并维护利益相关者的信任。
4.0 Purpose and Objectives
4.0 目的和目标
4.1 Objectives
4.1 目标
This study aims to explore how different social media crisis response strategies adopted by Chinese food e-commerce companies reflect corporate responsibility perceptions and influence consumer perceptions of brands. It seeks to explore how culturally nuanced expectations—particularly values rooted in collectivist thinking such as face, relational harmony, and moral responsibility—moderate consumer responses to various crisis communication strategies in China’s digital environment.
本研究旨在探讨中国食品电子商务公司采用的不同社交媒体危机应对策略如何反映企业责任观念并影响消费者对品牌的看法。它试图探讨文化上细微差别的期望——特别是植根于集体主义思维的价值观，如面子、关系和谐和道德责任——如何调节消费者对中国数字环境中各种危机沟通策略的反应。
4.2 Objectives
4.2 目标
To achieve this goal, the study will work towards the following specific objectives:
为了实现这一目标，该研究将朝着以下具体目标努力：
Classify and compare the effectiveness of major social media crisis response strategies (e.g., apology, denial, corrective action, defense) in shaping Chinese consumers’ perceptions of trust, corporate responsibility, and emotional sincerity.
对主要社交媒体危机应对策略（例如道歉、否认、纠正措施、防御）在塑造中国消费者对信任、企业责任和情感真诚的看法方面的有效性进行分类和比较。
Evaluate how consumers interpret different types of crisis responses through a cultural lens
评估消费者如何通过文化视角解读不同类型的危机应对措施
Based on scenario-based survey responses, examine the relationship between perceived corporate responsibility and post-crisis brand perceptions, including changes in trust, credibility, and purchase intention.
根据基于情景的调查回复，研究感知到的企业责任与危机后品牌认知之间的关系，包括信任、可信度和购买意愿的变化。
Analyze real-life crisis cases in China’s food e-commerce industry, focusing on consumer responses on platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu, to understand how corporate statements are received in real digital environments.
分析中国食品电商行业的真实危机案例，重点关注消费者在微博和小红书等平台上的反应，以了解企业声明在真实的数字环境中是如何被接受的。
Apply and evaluate the theoretical relevance of SCCT and stakeholder theory in explaining Chinese consumer behavior in crisis contexts, identifying the limitations and cultural adaptability required for these frameworks to work effectively in collectivist, emotion-driven markets.
应用和评估 SCCT 和利益相关者理论的理论相关性，以解释危机背景下的中国消费者行为，确定这些框架在集体主义、情感驱动的市场中有效运作所需的局限性和文化适应性。
To provide practical inspiration and guidelines for crisis communication managers in China's food e-commerce industry, helping them to develop more culturally resonant and morally consistent response strategies.
为中国食品电商行业的危机传播管理者提供实用的启发和指导，帮助他们制定更具文化共鸣和道德一致性的应对策略。
5.0 Methods
5.0 方法
This study attempts to test whether Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and Stakeholder Theory can explain consumers' trust response mechanism and behavioral intentions in social media crises to a certain extent. The study adopts a pragmatic paradigm and a sequential explanatory mixed method design (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2018).
本研究试图检验情境危机沟通理论 （SCCT） 和利益相关者理论是否能够在一定程度上解释消费者在社交媒体危机中的信任反应机制和行为意图。该研究采用实用范式和顺序解释性混合方法设计（Creswell 和 Plano Clark，2018 年）。
5.1 Quantitative Research Design
5.1 定量研究设计
The quantitative part will design a structured online questionnaire based on a modified crisis scenario simulation experiment. The questionnaire will present different types of brand crisis scenarios (such as expired raw materials, false advertising, labeling errors, etc.) and match corresponding response strategies (such as apology, denial, avoidance, compensation) to measure consumers' brand trust, moral indignation, sense of responsibility and purchase intention. All variables are scored using a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire will be presented in simplified Chinese and pre-tested before official release to ensure the content validity and internal consistency of the scale (David De Vaus, 2014).
定量部分将根据修改后的危机情景模拟实验设计一份结构化的在线问卷。问卷将呈现不同类型的品牌危机情景（如过期原材料、虚假广告、标签错误等）并匹配相应的应对策略（如道歉、否认、回避、赔偿），以衡量消费者的品牌信任度、道德愤慨、责任感和购买意愿。所有变量都使用 5 点李克特量表进行评分。问卷将以简体中文呈现，并在正式发布前进行预测试，以确保量表的内容有效性和内部一致性（David De Vaus，2014）。
The respondents are active food e-commerce consumers in China. The sample size is expected to be no less than 400 people. The survey platform uses JISC. The data obtained will be analyzed using SPSS software, using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis, and introducing "moral indignation" as a mediating variable and "cultural values" (such as face culture) as a moderating variable to explore the mechanism path between the variables (Cantarello, Filippini and Nosella, 2012).
受访者是中国活跃的食品电子商务消费者。样本量预计不少于 400 人。调查平台使用 JISC。将使用 SPSS 软件分析获得的数据，使用描述性统计、方差分析 （ANOVA） 和回归分析，并引入“道德愤慨”作为中介变量和“文化价值观”（如面孔文化）作为调节变量，以探索变量之间的机制路径（Cantarello、Filippini 和 Nosella，2012 年）。
5.2 Qualitative research design
5.2 定性研究设计
The qualitative part will be based on 2-3 real crisis events from platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu. The screening criteria include the breadth of event dissemination, user participation and representativeness of brand types. By collecting brand responses, user comments and media reports, thematic analysis was used to code and classify them to identify the differences in consumers' emotional reactions and moral judgments to different coping strategies (Braun andClarke, 2006). The analysis will be done with the help of NVivo software to improve the systematicity and traceability of coding. In order to enhance the reliability of the results, the study will ensure coding consistency through cross-case comparison and cross-researcher review mechanisms.
定性部分将基于来自微博和小红书等平台的 2-3 个真实危机事件。筛选标准包括活动传播的广度、用户参与度和品牌类型的代表性。通过收集品牌反应、用户评论和媒体报道，使用主题分析对它们进行编码和分类，以确定消费者对不同应对策略的情绪反应和道德判断的差异（Braun 和 Clarke，2006 年）。分析将在 NVivo 软件的帮助下完成，以提高编码的系统性和可追溯性。为了提高结果的可靠性，该研究将通过跨案例比较和跨研究人员审查机制来确保编码的一致性。
5.3 Validity and Reliability Guarantee
5.3 有效性和可靠性保证
This study has strengthened the validity and reliability design of the study from multiple levels:
本研究从多个层面加强了研究的有效性和可靠性设计：
First, to improve content validity, the questionnaire design in the study is based on existing theories (SCCT and moral emotion theory), and is localized and modified in combination with real cases of Chinese food e-commerce to ensure that the crisis scenarios presented are culturally adaptable and realistically relevant.
首先，为提高内容效度，本研究中的问卷设计以现有理论（SCCT 和道德情感理论）为基础，并结合中餐电商的真实案例进行本地化和修改，以确保所呈现的危机情景具有文化适应性和现实相关性。
Second, to enhance structural validity and internal consistency, the quantitative part will be pre-tested with a small sample before publication. The relationship path between key variables will be model-validated through regression analysis and mediation/moderation effect test (Hair, 2010).
其次，为了提高结构有效性和内部一致性，定量部分将在发布前用小样本进行预测试。关键变量之间的关系路径将通过回归分析和中介/调节效应测试进行模型验证 （Hair， 2010）。
In addition, the quantitative survey is combined with qualitative case analysis to cross-validate the conclusions from multiple data sources to enhance the overall explanatory power.
此外，定量调查与定性案例分析相结合，以交叉验证来自多个数据源的结论，以增强整体解释力。
Finally, all coding processes and thematic analysis will be conducted using NVivo software, and detailed logs and review records will be kept to ensure that the analysis process of the qualitative part is traceable and the results can be reviewed, further improving the reliability of the research.
最后，所有编码过程和主题分析都将使用 NVivo 软件进行，并保留详细的日志和审查记录，以确保定性部分的分析过程可追溯，结果可审查，进一步提高研究的可靠性。
5.4 Ethical considerations
5.4 道德考虑
This study does not involve experimental intervention of human subjects and does not collect sensitive information, so the ethical risk is extremely low. All social media data will be strictly limited to publicly visible content, and will not identify users or obtain private communications. The online questionnaire will be accompanied by an informed consent statement to clarify the rights and privacy protection mechanisms of participants. The research team will obtain formal ethical approval before the survey begins, and provide an approval form and researcher behavior statement in the appendix.
本研究不涉及人类受试者的实验干预，也不收集敏感信息，因此伦理风险极低。所有社交媒体数据将严格限于公开可见的内容，不会识别用户身份或获取私人通信。在线问卷将附有知情同意书，以阐明参与者的权利和隐私保护机制。研究团队将在调查开始前获得正式的伦理批准，并在附录中提供批准表和研究人员行为声明。
If some social media data cannot be fully collected due to platform limitations or technical problems, the research will still rely on existing literature and cases for cross-verification and reasonable supplementation to ensure the coherence and explanatory power of the research.
如果由于平台限制或技术问题导致部分社交媒体数据无法完全收集，研究仍将依赖现有文献和案例进行交叉验证和合理补充，以保证研究的连贯性和解释力。
