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Brand hate as a distinct phenomenon of consumer negativity has attracted considerable research attention in recent years. However, scant attention has been paid to explain the underlying mechanism of brand hate. Therefore, the present study aims to unveil how brand hate stirs in embarrassing situations and what repercussions it ignites that deteriorate the consumer–brand relationship.

The present study follows a mixed-method research design by conducting in-depth interviews with 16 consumers and then collecting three waves of time-lagged data from 217 respondents of two different countries. The reliability and validity have been established through confirmatory factor analysis, and hypotheses were analyzed using structural equation modeling and moderated-mediated models.

The results of both qualitative and quantitative investigations reveal that brand embarrassment instigates brand hate, and brand hate leads to brand detachment. Brand hate also mediates the relationship between brand embarrassment and brand detachment. Consumer vanity enhances the strength of brand embarrassment's effects on brand hate. This relationship further depicts the moderated mediation pattern as consumers with high vanity traits express extreme emotions of hate and detachment from the embarrassing brands. In addition, the findings demonstrate that the moderating role of consumer vanity is more pronounced among young consumers.

The study marks an initial attempt to explain the whole process of brand hate by incorporating brand embarrassment, brand detachment, consumer vanity and age in an integrated moderated mediation model. The study enhances brand managers' understanding of the severity of the consequences of embarrassing situations and devising preventive strategies.

The purposes of this qualitative study are to investigate brand embarrassment which is a unique social consumption emotion and to identify possible antecedents, consequences and moderating factors associated with it.

The study reviewed a large volume of literature on embarrassment. The literature review was followed by a series of semi-structured, in-depth interviews of selected brand-conscious young adult informants in India. The data collected through such interviews were coded following grounded theory method.

The final outcome of the study is a comprehensive grounded theory framework. The framework depicts various antecedents and consequences of brand embarrassment and specific moderating factors shaping the influences of specific antecedents on brand embarrassment.

The value of this qualitative study lies in developing an elaborate grounded theory framework showing the inter-relationships between brand embarrassment and other related concepts.

This paper aims to explore the role of surprise in reducing the negative impact of an undesired emotion, such as embarrassment, on the attitudes and behavioral intentions of consumers taking part in an event.

In total, 220 consumers took part in a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental within-subject design. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings show that an in-store social event designed to elicit young customers’ surprise and feelings of romantic love might also give rise to a relevant negative emotion such as embarrassment, and that surprise can act as a powerful managerial tool in limiting the negative effects of this negative emotion. Moreover, brand attitude and purchase intention are outcomes of positive emotions elicited by the event.

The study shows that event marketing is an appealing but risky strategy. Evoking surprise is an effective way to manage negative emotions such as embarrassment that can arise unintentionally during an event.

The research contributes to the understanding of the role of contradictory emotions in a specific social experience, namely, the event, and focuses on unplanned and undesired the affective contributions of customers.

This study aims to examine the roles of face consciousness, materialism and emotions play in sustainable luxury brand consumption (SLBC) among Millennials in a Collective society.

Three experimental design studies using scenario-based methodologies along with the survey method were conducted in China to test the proposed research model.

Study 1 shows that face consciousness negatively and significantly affects SLBC, and this effect is mediated by materialism. Study 2 reveals that when Millennials experienced great authentic pride, there is a positive association between face consciousness and SLBC. Furthermore, Study 3 reveals that when Millennials are exposed to a high risk of embarrassment, materialists’ willingness to engage in SLBC increases.

The current research has significant theoretical implications for studying SLBC, especially among young consumers. This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationships among face consciousness, materialism, pride, risk of embarrassment and SLBC in a Collective culture context, where luxury consumption is valued.

Sustainable luxury consumption is a new and under-examined research area. This research extends the SLBC literature in the context of a collective society and provides empirical evidence for sustainable consumption and luxury consumption in general. The research also contributes to the literature by examining the moderating role of self-conscious emotion in the relationship between face consciousness and SLBC.

Emerging economies are dominated by an unorganized retail landscape, with complex sociocultural norms dictating the behavior of retailers and customers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomenon of consumer embarrassment in an emerging marketing, India.

This research adopts a grounded theory approach and undertakes 31 in-depth interviews with consumers in India. The data is analyzed inductively and iteratively simultaneously with data collection.

The study uncovers that sociocultural normative influences, the retail environment’s structural constraints, interaction-based buying processes and customers’ perceptions play a role in eliciting embarrassment in traditional stores. The traditional format retailers play a significant role in evoking embarrassment and, surprisingly, also in facilitating coping. Contrary to the extant findings, purchasing embarrassing products online may not ensure anonymity and elicit embarrassment. The findings contribute to understanding the phenomenon of embarrassment in emerging markets.

There is a dearth of research examining consumer embarrassment in emerging markets, with extant studies investigating the phenomenon in the modern retail setup of developed economies. The retail landscape of India is predominantly unorganized, with distinct transactional processes and physical characteristics that are starkly different from modern retail stores. Moreover, sociocultural normative forces have distinct influences on the informal setup of unorganized retail.

A conceptual confusion has evolved in brand hate (BH) research mainly due to multiple conceptualizations, models and constructs in the field. As such, there is an urgent need to bring these insights together for a holistic understanding of research in BH, fostering its growth. This paper aims to fill this theoretical gap by bringing together the field of BH and delineating opportunities for further research.

A systematic literature review was conducted for a period of about two decades, from 1998 to August 2021. The authors included the English articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals with full texts relevant to this study, leading to a usable sample of 55 articles.

The authors’ findings reveal that the literature has inadequately distinguished BH as emotion and relationship, while the theoretical domain used to explore BH remains largely dominated by the psychology literature. Furthermore, BH research has primarily focused on services, with little distinction made between hatred across product and service context, with most studies set in developed countries. The authors further identify the need to investigate boundary conditions influencing BH and develop a more robust measure of BH to capture its dynamic facet.

By presenting a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the research in BH and highlighting the future research avenues, this study is believed to spur scholarly research and serve as a valuable tool for the researchers in advancing the research in BH.

Analysis of determinants and antecedents of BH provide managers an opportunity to nip the evil in the bud by preventing such situations that may lead to BH. Furthermore, insights into different BH consequences and boundary conditions allow brand managers to devise appropriate strategies to mitigate adverse reactions and foster positive consumer–brand relationships.

This study provides a thorough analysis of the current state of BH research in one place and draws a road map for scholars to further the research in this area.

This study aims to investigate the interplay between brand and consumer personalities in shaping brand hate and its consequences. More specifically, it investigates the relationship between fallacious character of the brand, brand betrayal feelings and brand hate, and identifies two response routes leading to consumer avoidance and revenge. Furthermore, the study explores the moderating impact of narcissism on the relationships between brand hate and its outcomes.

Data are collected from an online survey of a French representative consumer panel where participants were asked to cite a particular brand they hate, and then assess the different constructs tested in the model. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used for data analysis.

The study sheds light on the possible mediators and moderators of brand hate. Particularly, brand betrayal is hypothesized as a mediator between fallacious character of the brand and brand hate. Moreover, the study assesses the impact of narcissism on the relationship between brand hate and desire for avoidance and revenge. Findings show that active brand hate leads to a desire for revenge, whereas passive brand hate positively influences desire for avoidance. Finally, the current research suggests that consumer narcissism fuels desire for revenge on the brand.

To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to integrate brand personality (the fallacious character of the brand) and consumer personality (narcissism). The study describes the mechanism through which brand transgressions activate two response routes to brand hate associated with the desires for revenge and avoidance.

Studies on the negative aspects of consumer–brand relationships have received increasing attention in academia, but most research on this phenomenon is not focused on services. On the other hand, the literature consistently demonstrates evidence that gender affects consumer behavior. In this context, this study aims to unprecedentedly identify the antecedents of brand hate and the effects of consumer gender across different service sectors.

This research compares the results of two studies with service companies. The first was accomplished with 307 consumers of mobile phone operators, and the second study was performed on 450 higher education students. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

In both studies, females showed greater importance for ideological incompatibility than males. This suggests that females are more sensitive to moral issues and ethical behavior than males. As for males, negative experience is the most relevant antecedent of brand hate in both samples. However, when age is checked, the results indicate that younger males develop more brand hate than older males. This does not happen with females.

This study demonstrates gender differences and compares two samples applied in different service sectors: low-technological and high-touch consumer interactions. The results show that the antecedents of brand hate for males and females in the service sector differ. This study also points out that older males present a different behavior when compared to younger males, which does not happen with females.

This review aims to synthesize the brand hate literature and suggest directions for future research on brand hate.

This study adopted an integrative literature review method to synthesize and assess the brand hate literature.

The synthesis showed that social identity theory, disidentification theory and duplex theory are prominently used in brand hate studies, and a larger portion of brand hate research was conducted in Western countries. Further, brand-related, self-congruity, personal factors, information influence and brand community influence are the major types of antecedents of brand hate which can produce soft or hard consequences. Lexicometric analysis showed causes of brand hate, consumers' negative emotional and behavioral outcomes and community anti-brand behavior as key themes of brand hate research.

The synthesis has followed predefined criteria for the inclusion research papers. Thus, the review is limited to articles that fulfilled the criteria for inclusion.

The finding will help marketers, specially brand managers, craft strategies to handle brand hate.

The brand hate literature is still developing and remains incoherent, suggesting that a synthesized review is needed. This study has systematically reviewed and synthesized the brand hate literature to study its development over time and proposes a framework which provides a comprehensive understanding of brand hate.

This study aims to examine whether counterfeit luxury buyers’ tendency to impress others overrides their anticipation of embarrassment or whether the anticipation of embarrassment delimits their self-presentational goals.

This paper is based on three studies – a survey and two experiments that test the predictions. This study adopts a mix of moderation and mediation analyses to test the proposed hypotheses.

The findings reveal a greater counterfeit purchase likelihood and embarrassment aversion among publicly (vs privately) self-conscious consumers. Furthermore, a higher (vs a lower) audience class and a conspicuous (vs an inconspicuous) brand lead to lower counterfeit purchase intention, and anticipated embarrassment mediates both these effects. To mitigate the threat of embarrassment, publicly self-conscious consumers are more likely to buy counterfeits among a higher-class audience when the brand is inconspicuous (vs conspicuous). They, however, are indifferent to brand conspicuousness among a lower-class audience.

To deter counterfeit consumption, anti-counterfeiting campaigns must invoke consumers’ tendency to overestimate the degree of public attention. Ad appeals must accentuate the anticipation of embarrassment by enhancing self-consciousness through a higher-class audience involving a conspicuous brand.

This paper makes a novel contribution to counterfeiting literature by demonstrating that counterfeit luxury consumption is driven by countervailing motives of gaining approval and avoiding disapproval. The paper departs from mainstream theorizing by demonstrating that counterfeit luxury buyers engage in a protective self-presentation style by choosing inconspicuous counterfeits.