As brands become increasingly present in our lives, and the subject of more and more fandom and adoration, anti-branding is reversing the trend by showing everything that is wrong and despicable about companies and their products.
We asked ourselves: why do people hate brands, and why do they also feel the need to join online groups of hateful consumers? There is an increasing number of anti-brand groups on social media and we discovered through an online survey and interviewing some reasons that drive people to join anti-brand online communities:
- Doubtful brand ethics, or contradiction between consumer and corporate values
- Preference for a competing brand
- Need for social approval
- Want to detach oneself from material and branded goods in general
- Negative experiences with the brand
Multinationals seem to gather the most negative attention, probably due to their higher visibility and reputation. The profiles of consumers who join anti-brand communities is on the other hand very complex: from disgruntled customers to former or current employees of the company, going through tech or ethics experts, all sorts of people seem to find a sense of belonging and fulfillment in these groups.
In the face of hordes of haters, which position do you think is best for companies to adopt?
Laurence
More about anti-branding:
- [Read] Naomi Klein’s bestseller NO LOGO.
- [Read] CNET’s article on tech product fandom and hate, featuring some of our results.
- [Watch] It’s not just consumers who hate. Remember this Greenpeace anti KitKat ad.
- [Watch] This guy is really angry at Walmart.
- [Engage] One of the biggest and most active Anti Apple Facebook pages.