Reasons of Cancel Brand in Opinion of Consumer of Different Generations

Purpose: The article's subject is cancel brand as an observable phenomenon in the brand world with positive and negative consequences. The cancel brand theme is an issue that is relatively new in the literature. More radical customer attitudes towards brands acting against commonly accepted values, norms, or social order are being observed. Customers expect brands to respond strongly to displays of evil, intolerance, or any type of harm. Brand users are highly sensitive to the brand's communication and action consistency in the market. Simultaneously, social media popularization allows for ongoing observation and evaluation of brand activity by customers. On the other hand, social media is often a platform where customers may initiate brand stigma due to poor behavior. A particular area of interest is identifying and evaluating reasons for excluding or boycotting brands from the consumers' perspective representing different generations. Design/Methodology/Approach: The article presents a research approach based on a literature search and empirical research. Starting from the essence of the cancel culture phenomenon, through the terminology order, the essence of the cancel brand phenomenon and the conditions of its occurrence are presented. The empirical research was conducted by a diagnostic survey method using a survey questionnaire on a representative sample of 1,000 respondents. The research results were statistically analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and the χ2 independence test. Findings: A survey results analysis reveals differences in how different generations of consumers evaluate the reasons for excluding brands. In particular, they display different attitudes when identifying the most common and most significant reasons for excluding brands. The variable approach depending on the consumers' age also relates to the evaluation of the reasons for excluding brands in connection with certain value communication and value declarations. Generally different assessment is shown by the youngest respondents' group. A particular difference can be seen regarding non-ecological activities, lack of climate responsibility, or offending religious feelings. Practical Implications: The obtained research results allow us to formulate practical implications for brands regarding the communication of specific brand image elements to different age audiences. The research can be used, from a causal and social perspective, to attempt to capture factors that are uniquely important for brand communication, including values that are important to different generations of audiences to avoid or minimize the danger of brand exclusion. Originality/Value: This study borrows from existing research on marketing communication, branding, and brand management to argue that organizations are required to verify the real expectations of brands regarding their market activity and marketing communication of specific benefits and values.