Theory of Brand Hate Professor Marc Fetscherin Director, Department of Business Rollins College, USA Presentation for 5th International Consumer Brand Relationships Conference

Agenda Introduction Literature Review Theory of Hate Results Conclusion and Limitations

Most research on positive emotions Most research focuses on the positive consumer emotions brand satisfaction or loyalty (Bloemer and Kasper, 1995) brand attachment (Thomson, MacInnis, & Park, 2005) brand passion (Albert et al.,2012) brand romance (Patwardhan & Balasubramanian, 2011) brand resonance (e.g. Keller, 2009) brand love (Batra, Ahuvia,& Bagozzi, 2012, Fetscherin, 2015)

93%    93% of hate one brand People heat a brand Psychology: „Negative bias“ (Ito et al., 1998) meaning people weight negative information more than positive ones Neuroscience: Brain handles positive and negative information in different hemispheres (Fossati et al. 2003) Marketing: 93% of consumers hate one brand (Bryson et al., 2010) Potential for consumers to express their dislike grew significantly with the Internet (Gregoire et al., 2009) Number of ‘brand hate’ sites increased over the last years (Kucuk, 2008; Krishnamurthy & Kucuk, 2009) People heat a brand

Agenda Introduction Literature Review Theory of Hate Results Conclusion and Limitations

Literature Review Branding research on: Most are outcome/behaviors brand avoidance (Lee, 2008; Lee et al. 2009) brand rejection (Sandikci & Ekici, 2009) brand opposition (Wolter et al. 2016) brand revenge (Zourrig et al. 2009) or retaliation (Gregoire & Fisher, 2006) brand divorce (Sussan, Hall and Meamber, 2012) brand sabotage (Kähr, et al. 2016) brand dislike (Dalli et al., 2007) Most are outcome/behaviors Very few studies focus on ‚brand hate‘ construct (Kucuk, 2008; Krishnamurthy & Kucuk, 2009, Bryson et al., 2010, Zarantonello et al., 2016, Hegner, Fetscherin, and van Delzen, 2017).

Brand Dislike vs. Brand Hate Willingness to hate $ (WTH) Outcome of Brand Hate brand sabotage (Kähr, et al. 2016) Brand Dislike vs. Brand Hate Behavioral Outcomes Take a Flight Strategy Fighting Strategy Indirect Vengeance (Negative word of mouth) No Vengeance Direct Vengeance Brand Avoidance or Brand Switching* Private Complaining (weak) Public Complaining (strong) Brand Revenge (long term) Brand Retaliation (short term) Willingness to hate $ (WTH) Other terms used * Nenycz-Thiel and Romaniuk, (2011) used the term ‘brand rejection’ for brand avoidance. ** Wolter et al., (2015) used ‘brand opposition’ which is a combination of brand avoidance and nWOM. *** All outcome then lead to what Sussan et al., (2012) calls ‘brand divorce’

Contribution of Study Most studies focus on outcomes rather than the study of the emotion Few study brand hate, despite hate is the second most important emotion after love (Fehr and Russell 1984) Debate if hate is a single (Shaver et al 1987) or complex emotion (Sternberg 2003) No study assessed the psychological theory underlying brand hate Against this background, this study contributes: Focus on brand hate as a multi-dimensional construct Applying Sternberg’s triangular theory of hate (2003) to brands Introduce a new outcome variable “willingness to hurt the brand”

Agenda Introduction Literature Review Theory of Hate Results Conclusion and Limitations

HATE LOVE

Theory of Hate Hate Negation of Intimacy Disgust Commitment Devaluation/Diminution Passion Anger/Fear Hate Negation of intimacy: seeking large physical and mental distance from a brand such as brand avoidance Commitment: notion of negative feelings in an indirect way such as negative WOM Passion: notion of anger and more active and direct way such as brand retaliation

Seven Types of Hate Negation of Intimacy Commitment Passion Cool Hate Simmering Hate Seething Hate Hot Hate Cold Hate Boiling Hate Burning Figure 1: Seven types of hate (Sternberg, 2003, p. 73)

Research Model

Agenda Introduction Literature Review Theory of Hate Results Conclusion and Limitations

Methodology Survey using Qualtrics 3 Empirical studies using MTurk for data collection 371 brands studied 1,116 consumers (349, 363 and 404 respectively) Multiple statistical reliability and validity tests (e.g., Cronbach Alpha, CR, AVE, SIC, correlation matrixes, EFA and CFA)

Most Hated Brands

Study 1 & 2    93% of hate one brand Psychology: „Negative bias“ (Ito et al., 1998) meaning people weight negative information more than positive ones Neuroscience: Brain handles positive and negative information in different hemispheres (Fossati et al. 2003) Marketing: 93% of consumers hate one brand (Bryson et al., 2010) Potential for consumers to express their dislike grew significantly with the Internet (Gregoire et al., 2009) Number of ‘brand hate’ sites increased over the last years (Kucuk, 2008; Krishnamurthy & Kucuk, 2009)

Results with Brand Hate Brand Avoidance R2 = 00 Private Complaining R2 = .03 Public Complaining R2 = .51 Brand Hate R2 = .37 Commitment Passion Brand Revenge R2 = .68 Brand Retaliation R2 = .33 Negation of Intimacy -.16** .28** .52** .83 ** .00 .72 ** .16** .57 ** Study 1 Brand Avoidance R2 = .00 Private Complaining R2 = .07 Public Complaining R2 = .62 Brand Hate R2 = .48 Commitment Passion Brand Revenge R2 = .84 Brand Retaliation R2 = .43 Negation of Intimacy -.18** .20** .64** .92** .00 .78** .27** .65** Study 2

Results - Dimensionality Brand Hate Construct Sign Study 1 Study 2 Hypothesis Negation of intimacy  Brand Hate + -.16** -.18** () Commitment  Brand Hate .28** .20**  Passion  Brand Hate .52** .64** R-square of Brand Hate   .37 .48 Table : Dimensionality of Brand Hate

Results - Outcomes Hypothesis Path Sign Study 1 Study 2 Supported Study 2 (WTH) Supported H1: Brand Hate  Brand Avoidance + .00  H2: Brand Hate  Private Complaining .16** .27**  H3: Brand Hate  Public Complaining .72** .78** .77** H4: Brand Hate  Brand Retaliation .57** .65** .63** H5: Brand Hate  Brand Revenge .83** .92** H6: Brand Hate  WTH n/a .48** Table : Hypotheses Testing

Type of Hate – Outcome Variables 05/12/2018 Footer text: to modify choose 'View' (Office 2003 or earlier) or 'Insert' (Office 2007 or later) then 'Header & Footer'

Brand Avoidance (Cool Hate) Different type of hates and outcomes Negation of Intimacy Commitment Passion Brand Avoidance (Cool Hate) Private Complaining (Simmering Hate) Public Complaining Brand Revenge (Seething Hate) Brand Retaliation Willingness to Hate (Hot Hate)

Study 3    93% of hate one brand Psychology: „Negative bias“ (Ito et al., 1998) meaning people weight negative information more than positive ones Neuroscience: Brain handles positive and negative information in different hemispheres (Fossati et al. 2003) Marketing: 93% of consumers hate one brand (Bryson et al., 2010) Potential for consumers to express their dislike grew significantly with the Internet (Gregoire et al., 2009) Number of ‘brand hate’ sites increased over the last years (Kucuk, 2008; Krishnamurthy & Kucuk, 2009)

Brand Hate Scale (study 2) Study 3: Predictive Validity Type of Brand Hate Outcome* Brand Hate Scale (study 2) R2   NEB Scale (study 3)** Private Complaining 26.7% >  13.5% Public Complaining 25.3% 21.2% Brand Retaliation 18.1% 17.7% Brand Revenge 34.8% 24.6% Willingness to hurt 14.3% 14.2% *Brand Avoidance was not significant. ** NEB based on Romani, Simona, Silvia Grappi, and Daniele Dalli. "Emotions that drive consumers away from brands: Measuring negative emotions toward brands and their behavioral effects." International Journal of Research in Marketing 29, no. 1 (2012): 55-67.

Agenda Introduction Literature Review Theory of Hate Results Conclusion and Limitations

Willingness to hate (WTH) Brand Avoidance Private Complaining (weak) Public Complaining (strong) Brand Revenge (long term) Brand Retaliation (short term) Willingness to hate (WTH) Negation of intimacy Passion Commitment Cool Hate Simmering Burning Burning Hate Boiling Hot Type of Component Conclusion Provide a theory for brand hate Brand hate is a multi-dimensional construct Brand hate triggers fighting strategies only NoI: Weak emotional responses Commitment: ‘In the middle’ Passion: Strong emotional responses Different type of hates lead to different outcomes

Willingness to hate (WTH) Brand Avoidance Private Complaining (weak) Public Complaining (strong) Brand Revenge (long term) Brand Retaliation (short term) Willingness to hate (WTH) Negation of intimacy Passion Commitment Cool Hate Simmering Burning Burning Hate Boiling Hot Type of Component Limitations Underhill (2012) argue, love and hate are socially and culturally constructed. Cross-cultural validation Study is one point in time. Assess brand hate over time Effect of personality traits on brand hate Brand dislike  Brand avoidance? Relationship of brand hate and brand love Explore further WTH with non-monetary aspects (e.g., brand sabotage)

Thank you

Descriptive Samples

Model Fit Indexes Study 1 (n=349) Study 2 (n=363)   Study 1 (n=349) Study 2 (n=363) Research model (3-factor) Harman’s test (1-factor) Threshold χ2 2072.431 5235.736 2128.835 6389.542 χ2/df 2.238/926 5.636/929 2.241/950 6.705/953 ≤ 3.000 IFI .921 .705 .924 .650 ≥ .900 TLI .912 .669 .917 .618 CFI .703 .648 RMSEA .060 .115 .059 .126 ≤ .060

Defining Brand Hate Brand hate is an extreme negative emotion. It is a strong emotional response of anger, contempt or disgust for a brand. It leads to either ‘take a flight’ or ‘fighting’ response to a brand

Willingness to hate (WTH) Different type of hates and outcomes Brand Avoidance Private Complaining (weak) Public Complaining (strong) Brand Revenge (long term) Brand Retaliation (short term) Willingness to hate (WTH) Negation of intimacy Passion Commitment Cool Hate Simmering Burning Burning Hate Boiling Hot Type of Component Brand Hate

Seven Types of Hate Negation of intimacy Commitment Passion Cool hate   Negation of intimacy Commitment Passion Cool hate X - Cold Hate Hot hate Simmering hate Boiling hate Seething hate Burning hate Table 1: Seven types of hate (Sternberg, 2003, p. 73)

However… Psychology: „Negative bias“ (Ito et al., 1998) meaning people weight negative information more than positive ones Neuroscience: Brain handles positive and negative information in different hemispheres (Fossati et al. 2003) Marketing: 93% of consumers hate one brand (Bryson et al., 2010) Potential for consumers to express their dislike grew significantly with the Internet (Gregoire et al., 2009) Number of ‘brand hate’ sites increased over the last years (Kucuk, 2008; Krishnamurthy & Kucuk, 2009)

Results Direct Relationships* Brand Avoidance R2 = 06 Private Complaining R2 = .25 Public Complaining R2 = .33 Commitment Passion Brand Revenge R2 = .30 Brand Retaliation R2 = .14 Negation of Intimacy .26** .39** .33** .52** .25** .14* .38** .43** Study 1 Brand Avoidance R2 = 12 Private Complaining R2 = .20 Public Complaining R2 = .37 Commitment Passion Brand Revenge R2 = .47 Brand Retaliation R2 = .35 Negation of Intimacy .24** .18** .52** .64** .34** .18* .56** .38** Study 2 * For simplicity. Only positive relationships shown here