Impact of voluntary product recalls on utilitarian and hedonic attitudes: Is it the same for all brands?

The number of defective and unsafe products recalled from the market has increased dramatically in the last decade. While several studies have investigated consumer reaction to product recalls, the impact of such events on utilitarian versus hedonic attitudes towards the brand involved in the recall has not yet been assessed. Similarly, it is not clear whether brands with utilitarian positioning and brands with hedonic positioning are equally affected by recalls. Through an experiment based on a real-world stimulus from the laptop product category, this study shows that hedonic brands are more resistant to the negative effects of voluntary product recalls than are utilitarian brands. Furthermore, data show that brand familiarity mitigates the effect of the recall on utilitarian attitudes for both utilitarian and hedonic brands. Brand familiarity also positively moderates the impact of the recall on hedonic attitudes, but only for hedonic brands.