Chipotle's Crisis Summary

This article answers the question of if corporate advertising is effective in a crisis. The writers examine the impact that both crisis type and the evaluative tone of a news story can have on consumer responses to corporate advertising. The results of this study suggest that an accidental crisis is a critical factor affecting ad credibility and changes, between pre- and post-tests, and attitudes toward the corporation. The results reveal that consumers are more likely to perceive a company’s advertising as credible when the crisis is accidental. According to this study, Chipotle’s ads would not be perceived as credible since Chipotle’s crisis could have been avoided.