First investigation into brand sabotage: When the customer becomes the enemy

Brand sabotage is committed by anyone who negatively influences the brand associations of other consumers in order to specifically damage a brand. More and more consumers who are annoyed by a company and do not receive a response that seems appropriate to them are becoming brand saboteurs - in the digital age with high impact and widespread effect. Prof. Dr. Bettina Nyffenegger and Dr. Andrea Kähr, researchers at the Institute of Marketing at the University of Bern, recently presented the world's first study on brand sabotage. In an interview with Werbewoche, they explain what drives brand saboteurs, what consequences brand sabotage can have and how companies can react intelligently.

Interview: Anne-Friederike Heinrich

Werbewoche: The GfK study "Business Reflector 2017" showed at the beginning of the year how brand-loyal the Swiss are: They feel closely connected to Migros and Coop, but also to Rega, Lindt & Sprüngli or Zweifel. Is this attachment to brands specific to Switzerland or is it particularly pronounced among the Swiss?

Bettina Nyffenegger: Not necessarily. The Swiss like domestic brands, but the general brand awareness and attachment to brands is probably comparable with other countries. I would even say that brand relationships are even more pronounced in the USA, for example, than here; Americans use the words "I love" inflationarily often in connection with brands. Research into brand relationships also has its origins in the USA.

Andrea Kähr: But Switzerland also has strong brands, of course, and the trust in brands that develops over the years really does play a major role for the Swiss. This is also the reason why there are even Migros and Coop children here, and this affiliation continues to shape them through childhood and into adulthood. That's why Aldi and Lidl have such a hard time in Switzerland in comparison.

Brand loyalty is no guarantee of future market success, but it is an important indicator of it. To what extent does brand loyalty contribute to a company's success?

Nyffenegger: There are various factors that influence market success. Of course, the consumer plays an important role. If many consumers have strong brand loyalty, this is a very good basis for a company. This makes the brand a valuable asset - but also a vulnerable one: once someone has had a very strong connection to a brand and a negative experience with this brand happens, the strong bond can turn into particularly great anger and disappointment.

Kähr: This is known as the love-becomes-hate effect.

And how can a strong bond with a brand turn into intense antipathy?

Nyffenegger: The decisive factor here is what exactly happened. Do you feel threatened in your identity because you have invested so much in a brand that is now disappointing you and is not interested in you at all? Do you feel betrayed? But the trigger is always a negative experience with a brand?

Kähr: People who have a strong bond with a brand usually also have high expectations. And if, for example, the consumer gets the feeling from their interaction with an employee that they are not being taken seriously or that their concerns are not being addressed, this can very quickly lead to great disappointment. This is because there is a feeling of imbalance between what the consumer has invested and what the company has invested in the consumer. And this results in a strong emotion that can lead directly to a desire for retaliation and revenge.

Is brand sabotage easier in the digital age than it used to be?

Nyffenegger: Social media has made it much easier for consumers to damage a brand. On the one hand, consumers can find out a lot about a company or a cause on the internet and in social media, so there is a high level of transparency. On the other hand, consumers can also mobilize many people via social media and use the new technology to cause as much damage as possible.

Kähr: Of course, even in the past a consumer could, for example, leak information to the media and sabotage a brand. Today, however, social media acts as a catalyst and can very quickly achieve an enormous reach and impact.

How do you differentiate between brand sabotage and negative word of mouth (WoM)?

Nyffenegger: Especially about the motives. In the case of negative WoM, you have usually interacted with the company beforehand, i.e. you are a customer, and you want to get rid of your anger or still achieve a reaction or compensation from the company. In the case of brand sabotage, the initiator only wants to cause damage, in a targeted and very well thought-out manner.

Read more in Advertising Week 13/2017, published on Friday.