ABSTRACT

Research question

How does corporate social irresponsibility affect a brand during a worldwide health crisis? This study investigates how Adidas’ announcement to withhold rent payments in Germany and the ensuing public criticism impacted its brand metrics.

Research methods

Nationally representative survey data on sentiment, reputation, purchase intent, and behavior for five major sporting goods manufacturers spanning 1,096 continuous days is combined with Google Trends and stock price data to estimate the causal impact of Adidas’ social irresponsibility using a series of Bayesian structural time-series models.

Results and findings

Adidas took a significant initial hit in sentiment and reputation immediately and months after the scandal. However, purchase intentions, consumer behavior, and stock prices indicate that the company continued to be a preferred brand.

Implications

Findings suggest that the pandemic affected the outcome of Adidas’ behavior in two ways. While the initial impact was likely amplified by the heightened public attention to corporate behavior during the crisis, lower-funnel and long-term effects might have been mitigated by the rapid development of the pandemic that caused public attention to shift.

中文翻译：

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对社会不负责任没有长期后果吗？阿迪达斯在德国 COVID-19 大流行期间的租金事件

摘要

研究问题

在全球健康危机期间，企业社会不负责任如何影响品牌？本研究调查了阿迪达斯宣布在德国扣留租金的公告以及随之而来的公众批评如何影响其品牌指标。

研究方法

五家主要体育用品制造商连续 1,096 天的全国代表性情绪、声誉、购买意图和行为调查数据与谷歌趋势和股价数据相结合，使用一系列贝叶斯结构时间估计阿迪达斯社会不负责任的因果影响- 系列型号。

结果和发现

丑闻发生后几个月，阿迪达斯的情绪和声誉立即受到了重大打击。然而，购买意向、消费者行为和股价表明该公司仍然是首选品牌。

影响

调查结果表明，大流行以两种方式影响了阿迪达斯的行为结果。虽然危机期间公众对企业行为的高度关注可能会放大最初的影响，但导致公众注意力转移的大流行的迅速发展可能会减轻低漏斗和长期影响。