This research found that negative corporate news impacts consumer behavior – even towards consumers’
favorite brands. Businesses would benefit from contingency plans developed to proactively address
negative corporate news. Such actions could counter potential adverse changes in brand perceptions and
related alterations to consumer shopping and buying behaviors that can result from negative business
news. However, timely reactions by competing brands could take advantage of consumer openness to
other products that result from favorite brand perception changes by negative business news.