Let those with power speak: The effects of a CEO as a spokesperson and using a video channel during a product-harm crisis and a moral-harm crisis

Organizations facing a crisis, whether product- or moral-harm, must carefully decide on their crisis response to minimize any crisis-related damage. When responding to a crisis, it is not only the message that matters but also the individual delivering the response and the channel used for responding. To test the effects of crisis spokesperson (CEO vs. public relations officer) and channel type (video vs. text-based) during two types of crises (product- vs. moral-harm) on customers' trust, anger, and purchase intention, a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment was conducted with 207 German participants. Analyses show that customers' level of trust and purchase intention are higher and levels of anger lower when a CEO (instead of a PR officer) responds to a crisis and when a video (instead of a text-based channel) is used for the response. Additionally, a CEO responding to a product-harm crisis and using a video channel results in positive outcomes. Furthermore, the effects of spokesperson type and channel type on purchase intention are mediated by trust and anger.