Consumer health crisis management: Apple's crisis responsibility for iPod-related hearing loss

This study used a content analysis of Apple's lawsuit concerning hearing loss, exploring how for-profit organizations manage health-related crises when products are suspected of having a potentially devastating impact on consumers’ health. By integrating two major approaches in a crisis communication, this study found that severity of damage, locus of control, business size, and the external public's claim were major contingent factors generating the organization's responsibility for consumer health crises.