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Forgiveness: elucidating the underlying psychological processes that foster brand forgiveness and interpersonal forgiveness

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Title	Forgiveness: elucidating the underlying psychological processes that foster brand forgiveness and interpersonal forgiveness
Author	Donovan, Leigh Anne Novak
Author email	leigh.novak.2011@marshall.usc.edu;lanovakdonovan@gmail.com
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Document type	Dissertation
Degree program	Business Administration
School	Marshal School of Business
Date defended/completed	2012-03-07
Date submitted	2012-08-02
Date approved	2012-08-02
Restricted until	2012-08-02
Date published	2012-08-02
Advisor (committee chair)	Priester, Joseph R.
Advisor (committee member)	Park, C. Whan MacInnis, Deborah J. Wood, Wendy Lutz, Richard J.
Abstract	Even in the best relationships things can, and often do, go wrong. Whether an individual experiences a brand failure or their friend betrays their trust, an individual experiences a transgression when they feel that they have been let down. Transgressions, or critical incidents, have the ability to change the trajectory of a relationship from continuing smoothly to, at the most extreme, retaliation. Thus, it is important to know and understand how individuals can overcome transgressions. ❧ Recently, in psychology, forgiveness has received significant attention for its ability to repair transgressions and restore relationships. In interpersonal relationships, forgiveness has been shown to have the ability to increase conciliatory behaviors in relationships following a transgression (McCullough, Worthington, and Rachal 1997) and repair the relationship from the damage caused by the transgression (Fincham 2000). Forgiveness has yet to be explored in consumption situations and, even in psychology, the process of forgiveness has yet to be clearly specified. I contend that forgiveness is a critical step in understanding how individuals overcome transgressions. In this dissertation, I examine forgiveness in consumption relationships and interpersonal relationships and delineate the process of forgiveness. ❧ In the first chapter of this dissertation, I examine why forgiveness is important in understanding brand transgressions. I investigate the role of brand relationship closeness and forgiveness as key constructs in understanding the differences in behaviors following brand failures. I demonstrate that brand forgiveness plays a key role, in effect, being the link between brand relationship closeness and future brand behaviors following a brand transgression. ❧ Thus, through chapter 1, I demonstrate the importance of forgiveness in consumer brand relationships following transgressions. However, the question of how relationship closeness leads to forgiveness remains unanswered. In chapters 2 and 3, I propose and test a sequential mediation model designed to elucidate the process of forgiveness. I draw upon a partial proposed model in interpersonal relationships to create my four step model of forgiveness. I hypothesize that forgiveness, which stems from a close relationship, occurs because of a desire to restore this relationship, and that is driven by motivated reasoning. In chapter 2, I test this model following consumer brand transgressions in three studies. In Study 1, I test this model following a recalled brand transgression and find initial support for the model. In Study 2, I test this model using a hypothetical scenario to find out how participants would react towards a brand failure, again, finding support for the model. In Study 3, I show that differences in the model arise, as hypothesized, when cognitive load is introduced, providing support for the use of two mediators in the sequential mediation model. Finally, in chapter 3, I test this model in interpersonal relationships and confirm that the model delineates the process of forgiveness in these relationships as well.
Keyword	forgiveness; brand relationships; brand transgressions; relationships
Language	English
Part of collection	University of Southern California dissertations and theses
Publisher (of the original version)	University of Southern California
Place of publication (of the original version)	Los Angeles, California
Publisher (of the digital version)	University of Southern California. Libraries
Provenance	Electronically uploaded by the author
Type	texts
Legacy record ID	usctheses-m
Rights	Donovan, Leigh Anne Novak
Access conditions	The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.
Repository name	University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository address	USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA
Repository email	cisadmin@usc.edu
Archival file	uscthesesreloadpub_Volume4/etd-DonovanLei-1122.pdf