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 - 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.
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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 -