Brand hate

Purpose: We aim to investigate the nature of brand hate, its antecedents, and its outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: We conduct two quantitative studies in Europe. In Study 1 we develop a measure of brand hate and test its effects on behavioral outcomes. In Study 2 we show how brand hate and its behavioral outcomes change depending on reasons for brand hate. Findings: We conceptualize brand hate as a constellation of negative emotions which is significantly associated with different negative behavioral outcomes, including complaining, negative WOM, protest, and patronage reduction/cessation. Reasons for brand hate related to corporate wrongdoings and violation of expectations are associated with “attack-like” and “approach-like” strategies, whereas reasons related to taste systems are associated with “avoidance-like” strategies. Research limitations: We view brand hate as an affective phenomenon occurring at a point in time. Researchers could adopt a wider perspective by looking at the phenomenon of hate as a disposition/sentiment, not merely as an emotion. They could also adopt a longitudinal perspective to understand how brand hate develops over time, and relate it to brand love. Practical implications: Our conceptualization of brand hate offers insights to companies about how to resist and prevent brand hate for one’s own brand. Originality/value: We provide a first conceptualization of brand hate and develop a scale for measuring it. We relate our conceptualization and measurement of brand hate to important behavioral outcomes and different types of antecedents.