Exploring The Role of Crisis Management in Shaping Brand Loyalty: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Strategic Public Relations Practices in the Automobile Industry

Abstract

This study examines the role of crisis management in shaping brand loyalty within the automobile industry, with particular attention to the mediating function of strategic public relations practices. Using a qualitative, case study design, the research explores how automobile firms operating in Ghana plan, communicate, and recover during crisis situations, and how these practices are interpreted by customers. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with twenty-four (24) participants, comprising organisational managers and customers, and supplemented with document analysis of crisis-related communication materials. Thematic analysis revealed that crises were understood by organisations as reputational and relational threats rather than purely technical failures. Leadership visibility, cross-unit coordination, and disciplined timing emerged as central elements of effective crisis response. From the customer perspective, clarity, transparency, and speed of communication strongly shaped judgements of credibility, trust, and continued brand commitment. Defensiveness and delayed responses were consistently associated with trust erosion and weakened loyalty. The findings demonstrate that brand loyalty in crisis contexts is not sustained by product performance alone but is reconstructed through communicative conduct that signals accountability, respect, and corrective intent.