Title: Brand hate and consumers' responses: an analysis in the offline and online environment

Authors: Barbara Francioni; Ilaria Curina; Sabrina M. Hegner; Marco Cioppi; Elisabetta Savelli

Addresses: Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Saffi 15, 61029 Urbino, Italy ' Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Saffi 15, 61029 Urbino, Italy ' School of International Business, City University of Applied Sciences Bremen, Werderstr. 73, 28199 Bremen, Germany ' Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Saffi 15, 61029 Urbino, Italy ' Department of Economics, Society, Politics, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Saffi, 42, 61029 Urbino, Italy

Abstract: Within the studies investigating the consumer-brand relationships, brand hate has been partially disregarded as a research topic. This paper aims to extend the analysis of the brand hate outcomes by considering both their offline and online nature (i.e., offline/online negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) and offline/online complaining) and by also testing the role of concern for others and venting negative feelings as possible mediators on the relationship between brand hate and both offline/online behavioural outcomes. To reach this objective, structural equation modelling has been employed on a sample of 493 consumers. Findings reveal that concern for others is mainly involved when consumers perform NWOM in the offline context among their friends/family, while venting negative feelings is the main motive in the online context and for complaining to the company. The paper provides managerial implications useful to manage the consumers' offline/online behaviours in the brand hate context.

Keywords: brand; brand hate; consumer behaviour; consumer-brand relationship; concern for others; venting negative feelings; offline negative word-of-mouth; NWOM; online negative word-of-mouth; offline complaining; online complaining.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2025.146488

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2025 Vol.22 No.4, pp.460 - 483

Received: 15 Sep 2022
Accepted: 22 Mar 2023
Published online: 02 Jun 2025 *

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