Consumer Brand Bullying Behaviour in Online Communities of Service Firms

Purpose In the democratic digital environment, brand managers frequently deal with the unauthorized use of the brand by third parties. The phenomenon, known as brand hijacking, has been treated in different and sometimes conflicting ways in the academic and professional literature. The aim of this paper is to clarify the meaning of brand hijacking and to shed light on the various motivations and intentions underpinning the phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach A Delphi-based survey among both academic and professional experts was conducted to explore the key features of brand hijacking and expand existing theories. Findings The results of the Delphi survey enable the main brand hijacking actions to be mapped, based on two motivational axes (utilitarian–idealistic and destructive–constructive) and on the various intentions that guide the hijackers. The results help re-define the key elements of brand hijacking, through the lens of non-collaborative brand co-creation. Practical implications Managerial implications are presented in terms of the corporate response to the two main effects of hijacking, namely, brand reputational damage and brand repositioning. Originality/value The paper helps to shed light on the main components of brand hijacking, thus gaining expert consensus in refining the existent conceptualization in relation to a rapidly changing brand management scenario because of the gradual loss by brand managers of their traditional control.

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“…19. Breitsohl et al (2018), Kucuk (2019) 20. Brand hijacking is related to "participatory branding," i.e.…”

Section: Affinity With Related Theoretical Constructsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redefining brand hijacking from a non-collaborative brand co-creation perspective

Siano

Confetto

Vollero

et al. 2021

JPBM

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“…However, technology is not a panacea and recent advances in technology have also been associated with a number of negative social consequences beyond the usual technology paradoxes (Mick and Fournier, 1988; Johnson et al , 2008). As connectivity and information flow has proliferated questions have (re)emerged around privacy and digital ethics (Brusoni and Vaccaro, 2017), misinformation and rumour spreading (Arun, 2019), digital addiction (Griffiths, 2000; Sussman et al , 2011) and its associated consequences (Katz and Rice, 2002; Young, 2004), scepticism towards traditional forms of medicine (Johnson and Lowe, 2015), environmental issues (Ongondo and Williams, 2011), loss of information control (Hajli and Lin, 2016), loss of control to machines (Anderson et al , 2018), gambling addiction (Gainsbury, 2015), impulse buying (Wells, Parboteeah and Valacich, 2011), online bullying (Breitsohl et al , 2018; Kowalski et al , 2014), and many more.…”

Section: Consumers and Technology In A Changing Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guest editorial

Lowe

Dwivedi

D’Alessandro³

2019

EJM

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“…The interactive nature of social media communities results in the occurrence of social conflict (Breitsohl, Roschk, & Feyertag, ; Ewing, Wagstaff, & Powell, ), which refers to hostile and uncivil interactions between consumers due to divergences in goals, social norms, and values (Bacile, Wolter, Allen, & Xu, ). Social conflicts are likely to be more prevalent during prolonged negative events such as a financial crisis, as they often are a negative spillover from the accumulation of negative e‐WoM and consumers' individual online complaints over a period of time (Hauser, Hautz, Hutter, & Füller, ).…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media conflicts during the financial crisis: Managerial implications for retail banks

Dineva

Breitsohl

2019

Strategic Change

Self Cite

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Social media can be used proactively to disseminate accurate corporate information and address undesirable consumer behaviors online in order to help counteract negativity in the business environment in the wake of a financial crisis. Social media thus has become a popular open forum for financial institutions such as retail banks to engage in corporate dialogue with consumers. We recommend that financial services firms preemptively use their social media-based online communities in order to disseminate accurate corporate information in times of a financial crisis. Particularly, firms can choose between a range of reactive and proactive strategies to manage social conflict in the wake of a financial crisis. JEL classification code: M31.

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Consumer Brand Bullying Behaviour in Online Communities of Service Firms

Cited by 18 publications

References 16 publications

Redefining brand hijacking from a non-collaborative brand co-creation perspective

Redefining brand hijacking from a non-collaborative brand co-creation perspective

Guest editorial

Social media conflicts during the financial crisis: Managerial implications for retail banks

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