خطوط سیر نفرت از برند Trajectories of brand hate

Introduction The marketing literature has given a lot of attention to the phenomenon of positive emotions consumers have with brands, from brand liking (e.g. Spears and Singh 2004) to brand passion (e.g. Albert et al. 2013), brand devotion (e.g. Pichler and Hemetsberger 2007), and brand love (e.g. Albert et al. 2008; Batra et al. 2012; Carroll and Ahuvia 2006; Rossiter 2012). However, the spread and relevance of negative consumer–brand relationships have also been noted (Fournier and Alvarez 2013). Given the importance of these relationships, scholars have started to examine negative emotions towards brands (Romani et al. 2012), such as brand aversion (Park et al. 2013), brand detachment (Perrin-Martinenq 2004), and more recently, brand hate (Alba and Lutz 2013; Bryson et al. 2013; Fetscherin and Heinrich 2014; Hegner et al. 2017; Gre´goire et al. 2009; Johnson et al. 2011; Romani et al. 2015; Zarantonello et al. 2016). Brand hate, in particular, has been defined as an emotional construct with specific antecedents and outcomes on consumer behaviour (e.g. Hegner et al. 2017; Zarantonello et al. 2016). Although these studies represent an important step forward in conceptualizing this extreme negative emotion to brands, they have mainly treated brand hate from a static perspective, thus paying not enough attention to the evolving nature of the phenomenon of hate (Sternberg 2003). Taking this aspect into account could lead to a better understanding of brand hate, as has recently been achieved in the context of brand love (Langner et al. 2016). The purpose of this study is twofold: First, to understand trajectories of brand hate by asking respondents their feeling for a brand in the past, present, and future; second, to understand how these trajectories are related to the antecedents of brand hate and, most importantly, to the outcomes of brand hate. To do so, using a method similar to that of Langner et al. (2016), the paper carries out an analysis of consumers’ trajectories of brand hate through qualitative interviews, supported by visual representations of the brand hate relationship from the first contact with the brand through to the current feelings and the future. Although it uses a similar methodology, the current paper complements Langner et al.’ contribution (2016) in two ways. First, the central point of this paper is brand hate and not brand love. As the psychology literature shows, hate is, after love, the second most prototypical emotion (Fehr and Russell 1984) and among the most negative ones (Shaver et al. 1987). Therefore, it contributes to a better understanding of this important, yet different construct. Second, whereas Langner et al. (2016) focus on past and present, the current paper includes three points in time, namely past, present, and future. The latter point was included in order to explore the possibility that brand hate leads to neutral feelings, like, or even love. In the following, the paper first reviews the concept of brand hate. Then, it presents the qualitative study and explains the possible types of brand hate trajectory, as well as how these trajectories relate to the antecedents and outcomes of brand hate. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the study, as well as its limitations, and suggests directions for future research.