Velcro Effect

The Velcro effect explains how a negative prior reputation affects the way people attribute crisis responsibility to an organization in crisis. Essentially, stakeholders attribute more crisis responsibility to an organization when its precrisis (prior) reputation is negative. Given the exact same crisis event, people will attribute significantly greater crisis responsibility to an organization if its prior reputation is negative than if the organization’s prior reputation is neutral or positive. The Velcro effect matters because increased attributions of crisis responsibility intensify the reputational damage from a crisis as well as reduce purchase intention and increase the likelihood of negative word-of-mouth about the organization. This entry explains how the Velcro effect was discovered, the evidence supporting its existence, and the implications of the Velcro effect for crisis ...