TY - JOUR
T1 - Insights into the experience of brand betrayal
T2 - From what people say and what the brain reveals
AU - Reimann, Martin
AU - Macinnis, Deborah J.
AU - Folkes, Valerie S.
AU - Uhalde, Arianna
AU - Pol, Gratiana
N1 - Funding Information:
Martin Reimann (reimann@arizona.edu) is assistant professor of marketing and assistant professor of cognitive science (by courtesy), Department of Marketing, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721. Deborah J. MacInnis (macinnis@usc.edu) is Charles L. and Ramona I. Hilliard Professor of Business Administration, and professor of marketing, Department of Marketing, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089. Valerie S. Folkes (folkes@marshall.usc.edu) is Robert E. Brooker Chair of Marketing, and professor of marketing, Department of Marketing, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089. Arianna Uhalde (arianna.uhalde.2017@ marshall.usc.edu) is a PhD candidate, Department of Marketing, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089. Gratiana Pol (gp@hyperthesis.co) is CEO, Hyperthesis, LLC, Los Angeles, CA 90089. The authors thank the editor, Joel Huber, two anonymous reviewers, and Oliver Schilke for their detailed and constructive feedback throughout the review process. The authors also thank Armin Heinecke, C. Clark Cao, Kristen Lane, and Xiadong Nie for help with neuroimaging data collection and analyses. Financial support to the first author was provided by the University of Arizona’s Center for Leadership Ethics. All authors jointly designed the research; Gratiana Pol, Arianna Uhalde, and Martin Reimann performed and analyzed the research; and Martin Reimann, Deborah MacInnis, and Valerie S. Folkes wrote the research.
Funding Information:
The authors also thank Armin Heinecke, C. Clark Cao, Kristen Lane, and Xiadong Nie for help with neuroimaging data collection and analyses. Financial support to the first author was provided by the University of Arizona?s Center for Leadership Ethics. All authors jointly designed the research; Gratiana Pol, Arianna Uhalde, and Martin Reimann performed and analyzed the research; and Martin Reimann, Deborah MacInnis, and Valerie S. Folkes wrote the research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 the Association for Consumer Research. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - Brand betrayal is a state evoked when a brand with which one has previously established a strong self-brand connection fractures a relationship by engaging in a moral violation. We know little about whether brand betrayal is merely an extreme form of brand dissatisfaction or is a distinct state experienced differently from dissatisfaction. Herein, two studies shed new light into the experience of brand betrayal. A large-scale psychometric study shows that brand betrayal (vs. dissatisfaction) is associated with feelings of psychological loss, self-castigation over one’s prior relationship with the brand, indignation-focused versus frustration-focused anger, and rumination. A functional neuroimaging experiment further demonstrates that brand betrayal and brand dissatisfaction can be differentiated neurophysiologically, holding all else equal. These effects suggest that compared with brand dissatisfaction, brand betrayal is likely to be more harmful to both the brand and the brand relationship, and more difficult for marketers to deflect, with longer lasting consequences.
AB - Brand betrayal is a state evoked when a brand with which one has previously established a strong self-brand connection fractures a relationship by engaging in a moral violation. We know little about whether brand betrayal is merely an extreme form of brand dissatisfaction or is a distinct state experienced differently from dissatisfaction. Herein, two studies shed new light into the experience of brand betrayal. A large-scale psychometric study shows that brand betrayal (vs. dissatisfaction) is associated with feelings of psychological loss, self-castigation over one’s prior relationship with the brand, indignation-focused versus frustration-focused anger, and rumination. A functional neuroimaging experiment further demonstrates that brand betrayal and brand dissatisfaction can be differentiated neurophysiologically, holding all else equal. These effects suggest that compared with brand dissatisfaction, brand betrayal is likely to be more harmful to both the brand and the brand relationship, and more difficult for marketers to deflect, with longer lasting consequences.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061210368&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85061210368&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1086/697077
DO - 10.1086/697077
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85061210368
SN - 2378-1815
VL - 3
SP - 240
EP - 254
JO - Journal of the Association for Consumer Research
JF - Journal of the Association for Consumer Research
IS - 2
ER -