The processes that shape customers’ perceptions of a company crisis: Examining the role of justice, emotions and trust in the financial costs of a company crisis

Customer power is ever increasing and this means that organisational crises are more closely scrutinised by the media and the public, with often catastrophic consequences on customer confidence, sales, and share prices. An important but overlooked area of research is the processes which shape customers’ perceptions of the crisis and subsequent response to the crisis event. This paper draws from research in the field of organisational behaviour to provide evidence which suggests that customer responses to a crisis event are likely to be affected by customer perceptions of executive practices and character attributes and the effects these have on perceptions of the organisation as generally just. We propose a cumulative effect of these justice perceptions on customer emotions and trust. In the wake of a crisis, we argue, these factors play an important role in shaping how customers respond to a crisis event.