Undergraduate Thesis

Gardenia, a world-renowned bread company was caught off-guard by a crisis. The main concern of the study revolves around Gardenia's crisis management strategy. A qualitative comparative case study analysis of Starbucks, Rensol, Cadbury, and Gardenia was used to analyze, compare, and contrast the following crisis management strategies used. To offer more data the researchers conducted 30 in-depth interviews to have the first-hand response of the consumers. The researchers also used document analysis on Gardenia's official statement. Critical discourse analysis was used to analyze and interpret the in-depth interviews as well as the numerous Facebook comments regarding the viral video. But due to the branding power of Gardenia, brand loyalty, and purchasing decision was not an issue. However, there is more to say about how Gardenia tackled the crisis. Thus, the researchers analyzed Gardenia's course of action. The output of the study is a recommendation of another course of action in line with the other case studies analyzed, the consumers' in-depth interview, and Facebook comments. This research will benefit both Gardenia Philippines - in a way that future endeavors might be dealt with a better understanding of the situation and thorough analysis of the consequences - and other similar companies by providing insights on how to properly deal with any crisis that their organization may encounter. This will also benefit future researchers as this research is relatively new and have not yet been studied academically.