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Salma Akter1
, Md. Azizur Rahman1 and Md. Hafizul Alam Sikder1
1 Department of Business Administration, East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-Commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed.
Popular Kacchi Biryani restaurant, Sultan’s Dine in Bangladesh, faced a major obstacle when a false and damaging rumor spread on social media that they were using dog meat in their dishes. This case study focuses on how Sultan’s Dine experienced damage from the food rumor issue, specifically how the restaurant’s brand reputation and consumer trust were affected by the rumors, which went viral. To escape the rumor and win back the public’s trust, the restaurant used a smart strategy that included Internet marketing, arguments, and public relations. Sultan’s Dine somehow managed the situation by applying strategies to overcome negative word-of-mouth and used viral marketing because of regular engagements with customers, which transformed the problem into an opportunity for development through social media and consumer feedback. Media reports, corporate representative interviews, and social media evaluations were used to collect data for this study. This case highlights the importance of quick crisis management, the contribution of viral marketing to reputation management in the food industry, and the challenges businesses face in the modern age. This case study shows how careful use of digital channels can reduce the negative impacts of rumors while building strong brand loyalty.
Viral marketing, crisis management, negative word-of-mouth, social media, food industry, reputation management
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