IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-02014635.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The effect of activity identity fusion on negative consumer behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew Hawkins

    (ICN Business School, CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine)

Abstract

Negative consumer behavior is an important research topic as it explores consumer behaviors that threaten a brand's image and financial stability. However, prior research offers conflicting findings on whether a strong consumer-brand relationship hurts or protects a brand following a market disruption or brand transgression. In order to offer clarity to this issue, this work argues that disrupting the consumer-activity relationship motivates consumers to re-affirm and protect their identity thereby leading to negative consumer behavior. The data reveal that, following a brand initiated market disruption, consumers with high activity identity fusion are more likely to spread negative word-of-mouth, boycott the brand, and avoid repurchasing the brand in the future. Moreover, the data suggest that high brand identity fusion protects the brand during market disruptions; therefore, prior conflicting results may be due to the fact that the consumer-activity relationship was not accounted for. Theoretically, this work establishes that a consumer's relationship with their consumption activities has significant impacts on consumer behavior. Brand managers and marketers are urged to develop strategies that focus on strengthening the consumer-brand relationship and not the consumer-activity relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Hawkins, 2019. "The effect of activity identity fusion on negative consumer behavior," Post-Print hal-02014635, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02014635
    DOI: 10.1002/mar.21186
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02014635
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-02014635/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mar.21186?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James H. McAlexander & Beth Leavenworth Dufault & Diane M. Martin & John W. Schouten, 2014. "The Marketization of Religion: Field, Capital, and Consumer Identity," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(3), pages 858-875.
    2. Fournier, Susan, 1998. "Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 343-373, March.
    3. Celsi, Richard L & Rose, Randall L & Leigh, Thomas W, 1993. "An Exploration of High-Risk Leisure Consumption through Skydiving," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(1), pages 1-23, June.
    4. McCracken, Grant, 1986. "Culture and Consumption: A Theoretical Account of the Structure and Movement of the Cultural Meaning of Consumer Goods," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(1), pages 71-84, June.
    5. Allison R. Johnson & Maggie Matear & Matthew Thomson, 2011. "A Coal in the Heart: Self-Relevance as a Post-Exit Predictor of Consumer Anti-Brand Actions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(1), pages 108-125.
    6. Amber M. Epp & Linda L. Price, 2008. "Family Identity: A Framework of Identity Interplay in Consumption Practices," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(1), pages 50-70, February.
    7. Craig J. Thompson & Tuba Üstüner, 2015. "Women Skating on the Edge: Marketplace Performances as Ideological Edgework," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 42(2), pages 235-265.
    8. Özlem Sandikci & Güliz Ger, 2010. "Veiling in Style: How Does a Stigmatized Practice Become Fashionable?," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(1), pages 15-36, June.
    9. Albert M. Muiz Jr. & Hope Jensen Schau, 2005. "Religiosity in the Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 31(4), pages 737-747, March.
    10. Schouten, John W & McAlexander, James H, 1995. "Subcultures of Consumptions: An Ethnography of the New Bikers," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(1), pages 43-61, June.
    11. Trump, Rebecca K., 2014. "Connected consumers' responses to negative brand actions: The roles of transgression self-relevance and domain," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1824-1830.
    12. Kimberly D. Elsbach & C. B. Bhattacharya, 2001. "Defining Who You Are By What You're Not: Organizational Disidentification and The National Rifle Association," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 393-413, August.
    13. Firat, A Fuat & Venkatesh, Alladi, 1995. "Liberatory Postmodernism and the Reenchantment of Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(3), pages 239-267, December.
    14. Eric J. Arnould & Craig J. Thompson, 2005. "Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 31(4), pages 868-882, March.
    15. Kates, Steven M, 2002. "The Protean Quality of Subcultural Consumption: An Ethnographic Account of Gay Consumers," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 29(3), pages 383-399, December.
    16. Vanitha Swaminathan & Karen M. Stilley & Rohini Ahluwalia, 2009. "When Brand Personality Matters: The Moderating Role of Attachment Styles," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(6), pages 985-1002, April.
    17. Craig J. Thompson & Gokcen Coskuner-Balli, 2007. "Countervailing Market Responses to Corporate Co-optation and the Ideological Recruitment of Consumption Communities," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(2), pages 135-152, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Akrout, Houcine & Mrad, Mona, 2023. "Measuring brand hate in a cross-cultural context: Emic and Etic scale development and validation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    2. Kim, Changju & Kim, Woonho & Nakami, Shinya, 2022. "Do online sales channels save brands of global companies from consumer boycotts? A geographical analysis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Kim, Changju & Kinoshita, Akihiro, 2023. "Do you punish or forgive socially responsible companies? A cross-country analysis of boycott campaigns," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ertimur, Burçak & Venkatesh, Alladi, 2010. "Opportunism in co-production: Implications for value co-creation," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 256-263.
    2. Daniela Andreini & Diego Rinallo & Giuseppe Pedeliento & Mara Bergamaschi, 2017. "Brands and Religion in the Secularized Marketplace and Workplace: Insights from the Case of an Italian Hospital Renamed After a Roman Catholic Pope," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 529-550, March.
    3. Biraghi, Silvia & Gambetti, Rossella & Pace, Stefano, 2018. "Between tribes and markets: The emergence of a liquid consumer-entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 392-402.
    4. Skandalis, Alexandros & Byrom, John & Banister, Emma, 2019. "Experiential marketing and the changing nature of extraordinary experiences in post-postmodern consumer culture," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 43-50.
    5. Holttinen, Heli, 2014. "Contextualizing value propositions: Examining how consumers experience value propositions in their practices," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 103-110.
    6. Syrjälä, Henna, 2016. "Turning point of transformation: Consumer communities, identity projects and becoming a serious dog hobbyist," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 177-190.
    7. Gerrath, Maximilian H.E.E. & Brakus, J. Joško & Siamagka, Nikoletta Theofania & Christodoulides, George, 2023. "Avoiding the brand for me, us, or them? Consumer reactions to negative brand events," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    8. Higgins, Leighanne & Hamilton, Kathy, 2016. "Mini-miracles: Transformations of self from consumption of the Lourdes pilgrimage," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 25-32.
    9. Andreini, Daniela & Pedeliento, Giuseppe & Zarantonello, Lia & Solerio, Chiara, 2019. "Reprint of "A renaissance of brand experience: Advancing the concept through a multi-perspective analysis"," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 355-365.
    10. Jeanes, Emma L., 2013. "The construction and controlling effect of a moral brand," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 163-172.
    11. Goulding, Christina & Saren, Michael, 2016. "Transformation, transcendence, and temporality in theatrical consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 216-223.
    12. Sandikci, Ozlem & Jafari, Aliakbar & Fischer, Eileen, 2024. "Claiming market ownership: Territorial activism in stigmatized markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    13. Vikas Arya & Hemraj Verma & Deepa Sethi & Rajat Agarwal, 2019. "Brand Authenticity and Brand Attachment: How Online Communities Built on Social Networking Vehicles Moderate the Consumers’ Brand Attachment," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 8(2), pages 87-103, July.
    14. Healy, Jason C. & McDonagh, Pierre, 2013. "Consumer roles in brand culture and value co-creation in virtual communities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 1528-1540.
    15. Schembri, Sharon, 2009. "Reframing brand experience: The experiential meaning of Harley-Davidson," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 1299-1310, December.
    16. Anis Jounaid & Abdelmajid Amine, 2018. "L'ambivalence De La Consommation Contre-Culturelle : Le Role Du Style Heavy Metal Dans La Dialectique Contre-Culture/Culture Dominante," Post-Print hal-02022689, HAL.
    17. Hollebeek, Linda D. & Belk, Russell, 2021. "Consumers’ technology-facilitated brand engagement and wellbeing: Positivist TAM/PERMA- vs. Consumer Culture Theory perspectives," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 387-401.
    18. Andreini, Daniela & Pedeliento, Giuseppe & Zarantonello, Lia & Solerio, Chiara, 2018. "A renaissance of brand experience: Advancing the concept through a multi-perspective analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 123-133.
    19. Bernard Cova, 2021. "The new frontier of consumer experiences: escape through pain," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(1), pages 60-69, June.
    20. Fetscherin, Marc & Heinrich, Daniel, 2015. "Consumer brand relationships research: A bibliometric citation meta-analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 380-390.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02014635. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.