The Impact of the Media Crisis on brand trust, brand loyalty and purchase intention of Gen Z Consumers in Ho Chi Minh City. Case study of the FMCG sector: Acecook Hao Hao noodles

Abstract

In the era of technological development, brand crises spread rapidly, causing significant damage to the reputation, image, and consumer trust in the brand, especially among Gen Z consumers. Generation Z is known as the generation that uses social media frequently and continuously, making them the group most strongly affected by negative information. In that situation, businesses must develop effective communication strategies to mitigate the effects of the crisis. However, not all businesses can come up with appropriate and effective strategies. Specifically, in the case of Acecook Vietnam's Hao Hao noodle brand, when the product was recalled in Europe due to containing banned substances, it led to a wave of negative reactions and skepticism from customers. Although Acecook issued a statement explaining and affirming that domestic products are safe, it still could not soothe the trust of a segment of consumers. To resolve the crisis, brands must understand the impact of different types of crises and how crisis response strategies affect their customers. From there, it serves as a basis for media managers to to build strategies that are appropriate for the company's current condition in order to restore customer trust. Based on the stated purpose, we conducted a study titled “The Impact of the Media Crisis on brand trust, loyalty, and purchase Intentions of Gen Z Consumers in Ho Chi Minh City: Case study of Acecook's Hao Hao Noodles Brand”. This study examines the impact of the media crisis and the brand's response strategy on consumer attitudes, brand trust, as well as purchase intentions and brand loyalty. The research team conducted a survey with an online questionnaire on Google Forms with 508 respondents aged 18-27 in Ho Chi Minh City regarding the impact of the Acecook Hao Hao noodle crisis on their trust, purchase intention, and loyalty. The data were analyzed using the PLS SEM method through Smart PLS 4.0 software. The results show that consumer trust, purchase intention, and loyalty are indirectly influenced by four variables through corporate image brand, organizational reputation, emotion, consumer attitudes, and 12 out of 13 hypotheses were accepted. From the analyzed data, the authors' group proposed several solutions for Acecook in particular, and FMCG companies in general, to effectively address brand crises with minimal damage to brand image and to restore customer trust as quickly as possible through appropriate response strategies