Brand hate: a multidimensional construct

Purpose This study aims to examine the emotional components of brand hate and the variation of emotions across different levels of brand hate. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 uses in-depth interviews and data triangulation. Studies 2-5 make use of quantitative methods to test and validate the multidimensional structure of brand hate and the variation of its composing emotions. Findings Study 1 suggests that brand hate is a multidimensional construct comprised of anger-, sadness- and fear-related emotions; possible antecedents and consequences are discussed. The quantitative results from Studies 2-5 confirm the findings in Study 1. A three-factor scale consisting of nine items is developed. The proposed model is tested among different samples and is compared with the currently available brand hate models. In addition, the findings show that emotions weigh differently for different brand hate levels. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the brand hate literature and provides a structure to understand brand hate more thoroughly. Practical implications Companies can benefit from the research through a better knowledge of brand hate. Managers can use the multidimensional measurement to detect brand hate and better cope with it. Originality/value This study is among the first few attempts to examine the multidimensionality of brand hate and to investigate the variation of emotions in different brand hate levels. This study contributes to a more precise description of the brand hate construct and improves understanding of consumer-brand relationships.