A recent American Marketing Association (AMA) study found that the majority of Americans are quick to forgive a company should it effectively respond to and manage a recall event.
But that patience can be limited.
According to AMA’s report, consumers tended to be more understanding if the company initiating the recall had never done so before or if it was well-liked. The public was also more likely to be forgiving if the affected product was a part of a category that was commonly recalled.
But those businesses with bad reputations or those which had issued multiple recalls in the past were usually not so lucky. In such cases, most customers were not quick to forgive – even if recalls were common in that particular company’s industry.
So how can a company which has to initiate a recall bounce back in terms of consumer confidence?
I recently wrote an article for Food Manufacturing addressing the dramatic rise in the number of product recalls and how effective recall management can lead to reestablished consumer confidence and brand protection.
Recent trends show that recalls are on the rise with consumers facing about 6.5 recalls per day and more than 2,300 recalls each year.
With the rate of recall activity continuing to grow, planning and preparation is proving to be essential to effective recall management and consequently restoring consumer confidence. Having responsibilities and procedures in place ahead of time can make all the difference during a recall event. But it’s important to remember that while a recall plan provides the basic framework, it cannot implement itself. Practice makes perfect.
Successful recall management also demands that affected parties be correctly identified and notified in a timely fashion. While this can be a challenging step in the recall process, it is the key to regulatory compliance and restoring a company’s reputation. No matter the affected product or how many times a company has initiated a recall, businesses can expect to face public scrutiny if they fail to effectively notify consumers and provide a remedy that ensures compliance.
Were you surprised by AMA’s findings? Should consumer confidence be correlated with a company’s recall response? What have you done to your current recall plan in an effort to ensure that affected product is immediately removed and the correct remedy is relayed to consumers?
