“Don’t Worry, We Are Here for You”: Brands as External Source of Control during the Covid-19 Pandemic
研究发现，新冠疫情加剧了消费者的担忧和失控感，这使品牌在消费者生活中变得更重要，品牌可通过广告回应危机相关的担忧来获益。
The Covid-19 pandemic increases consumers’ worries and makes them experience a loss of control over their lives. We investigate how these factors affect the roles that brands play in consumers’ lives. Results of a longitudinal survey (N = 5,393) and an online experiment (N = 387) show that brands gain relevance and are more firmly included in consumers’ self-concepts if consumers experience more worries about Covid-19 and a lack of control. Brands can benefit from this by addressing worries associated with the crisis in their advertisements. This is particularly effective for consumers who express greater worry about the Covid-19 pandemic.