Abstract In this paper a differential dynamical system model is constructed to describe the growth trends of the consumer populations who have taken different trust strategies in the evolution of the brand crisis. Then a phase trajectory analysis is adopted to analyze the stability of the system equilibrium point. The simulation results show that the negative media publicity and negative word of mouth among consumers of the brand accelerates the outbreak of the crisis significantly. Communication by the enterprise during the crisis and positive word of mouth among consumers can alleviate consumer fear and slow down the progression of the crisis to some extent.
2011, Vol. 28 
