van Heerde HJGijsbrechts EPauwels K2015-101/10/2015JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH, 2015, 52 (5), pp. 674 - 6930022-2437https://hdl.handle.net/10179/9594This article explores how media coverage of a price war affects customer, retailer, and investor reactions over time. Using data covering a Dutch supermarket price war (2003-2005), the authors find that price reductions, especially deep reductions, trigger media coverage of the price conflict. This sets off a chain of reactions. Press messages have a significant effect on market share and abnormal stock returns, beyond retailers' own price and advertising. Importantly, this study uncovers striking asymmetries regarding the kind of coverage to which stakeholders react: whereas consumers only respond to the tone of price-related press coverage, retailers and investors only react to its quantity. Next, media coverage feeds back into the retailers' pricing actions: more media coverage triggers new price cuts in addition to those dictated by competitive reactions. As such, media coverage triggers a deeper spiral of price cuts, intensifying the competitive price battle. However, as the price war progresses, media coverage becomes less frequent and less favorable, which decelerates the downward price spiral.674 - 693media coverageprice warretailinghierarchical Bayestime series econometricsJournal article10.1509/jmr.13.02602568691547-7193Massey_Dark1505 Marketing