Why Do Consumers Subvert Brands? Investigating the influence of subjective well-being on brand avoidance

Seminar abstract

Negative consumer–brand interactions often result in consumer subversion, in which consumers actively reject or avoid brands.

To date, the role of positive emotional states, such as subjective well-being, in brand avoidance remains a crucial oversight in the literature seeking to address consumer subversion.

In this research, comprising three studies, we examine why and when subjective well-being influences brand avoidance.

Drawing on self-control theory and the literature related to anti-consumption, we argue and demonstrate in;

• Study 1 (N = 330) that subjective well-being enhances consumers’ ability to avoid brands that transgress moral and ethical norms.
• Study 2 (N = 251) reveals the underlying psychological process by which subjective well-being engenders greater self-control in consumers who, as a response, exhibit brand avoidance behaviour.
• Study 3 (N = 243) indicates that anti-consumption attitude serves as the boundary condition; it specifically demonstrates that a macro-oriented anti-consumption attitude accentuates the influence of subjective well-being on brand avoidance, whereas a micro-oriented anti-consumption attitude does not have any effect.

Our research contributes to the anti-consumption literature by evaluating the influence of subjective well-being on moral brand avoidance. This research offers key insights for marketing managers entering markets containing consumers with high or low subjective well-being.

How to attend

This seminar is free to attend with no need to register in advance.

Join this seminar online on Wednesday 20 October at 1.15pm

We welcome you to come along virtually with your friends, colleagues and classmates.

Speaker bio

Dr Abhisek Kuanr is a Lecturer in Marketing at Essex Business School.

His research interests have revolved around the broad area of anti-consumption.

His work thereby includes the pursuit of determinants of anti-consumption behaviours, drawn from a diverse set of phycology, sociology, and marketing theories.

His work has been published in leading journals such as Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, and International Journal of Information Management Data Insights.

He also serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for journals such as the journal of consumer behaviour, journal of philanthropy and marketing and leisure sciences.