Investigating consumers’ motives for consumer brand-cyberbullying on social media

Figures & data

Table

Babs Dowell	NIKE SUPPORTS CHEATING – JUST AS LONG AS IT MAKES THEM MONEY
Andrew Cox	Well, Babs, as long as you don’t make any money at all, be sure to shut your trap, my dear.
Babs Dowell	Andrew Guywithopinion This is a reflection of your ignorance, nothing else. What a nasty piece of work you are. What country are you from? I am sure your country people are not all as ignorant as you
April Low	Andrew Guywithopinion You are extremely rude-not a gentleman that is for sure.
Denitsa Kurt	Well … you did make a bold accusation. Some people respond badly to that. At least be respectful and say the name of the person you are boldly accusing.
Tom Hope	Nike is an industry and reflects capitalism. Now please take your stupid moral issues and go somewhere else where people actually care, nobody asked for your incredibly acute revelation.
Babs Dowell	Slightly more than you-a rude ignorant specimen-male chauvinist pig-point made
April Low	Tom Hope apart from bad English, your puerile comments are a reflection of how stupid you are-look pretty weird too…
Babs Dowell	Tom Hope Oh just found out where you work—will be informing them of your harassment here.

Figure 1. Conceptual model: Motives for consumer brand-cyberbullying.

Table A1. Measurement items and psychometric properties.

Construct name	Construct measurement
Affiliation (α=.806; CR=.899; AVE=.691)	People will show affection to me, and I will do likewise to them. I will feel that there are people who really love me. I will express my love for special people. I will have a committed, intimate relationship.
Self-acceptance (α=.795; CR=.898; AVE=.690)	I will choose what I do, instead of being pushed along by life. I will deal effectively with problems in my life. I will feel good about my abilities. I will overcome the challenges that life presents me.
Community (α=.682; CR=.841; AVE=.726)	The things I do will make other people’s lives better. I will help the world become a better place.
Attractiveness (α=.864; CR=.918; AVE=.788)	I will have people comment about how attractive I look. I will keep up with fashions in hair and clothing. I will achieve the “look” I’ve been after.
Conformity (α=.722; CR=.840; AVE=.725)	My desires and tastes will be similar to those of other people. I will “fit in” with others.
Popularity (α=.756; CR=.855; AVE=.748)	I will be admired by many people. My name will be known to many people.
Brand Identification (α=.840; CR=.908; AVE=.767)	I identify strongly with my brand. My brand embodies what I believe in. My brand is like a part of me.
Brand Loyalty (α=.734; CR=.860; AVE=.674)	I stick with my brand because I know it is the best brand for me. I will buy this brand the next time I buy a product. I intend to keep purchasing this brand.
Consumer Brand-Cyberbullying (α=.811; CR=.901; AVE=.752)	I have teased others about their brand. I have made rude remarks to others about their brand. I have made jokes about others regarding their brand.

Note: Before respondents were exposed to the scales for Brand Loyalty and Brand Identification, they were asked the following: “The next statements refer to the online brand community in which you have found the link to our survey. Please enter the name of the brand that you support in this community into the textbox below.” The entered brand name was then automatically carried forward into each scale item, replacing the words “my brand” or “this brand” with an actual brand name that respondents had entered (e.g., Nike).

Table 1. Correlation matrix.

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)
Affiliation (1)	.831	.830	.719	.174	.261	.303	.371	.538	.065
Self-acceptance (2)	.788	.831	.693	.085	.128	.278	.255	.491	.058
Community (3)	.775	.754	.852	.419	.454	.520	.475	.576	.196
Attractiveness (4)	.339	.268	.535	.888	.798	.864	.431	.368	.483
Conformity (5)	.409	.302	.563	.838	.851	.808	.491	.431	.456
Popularity (6)	.442	.422	.616	.830	.760	.865	.450	.393	.494
Brand Identification (7)	.497	.404	.580	.545	.593	.560	.876	.813	.585
Brand Loyalty (8)	.630	.593	.661	.494	.545	.514	.766	.821	.463
CBC (9)	.252	.246	.357	.586	.565	.595	.668	.570	.867

Note: Values below the diagonal show correlations between constructs; values on the diagonal (in bold) show the square root of AVE; and values above the diagonal show correlations between the constructs adjusted for the marker variable. All correlations were significant at .001.

Table 2. Motives for Consumer Brand-Cyberbullying (CBC): Structural parameter estimates.

Hypothesized path	ß	t-value	Result
H1: Affiliation → CBC	−.19	−3.56***	Supported
H2: Self-acceptance → CBC	.06	1.19 ^n.s.	Rejected
H3: Community → CBC	−.11	−2.76***	Supported
H4: Attractiveness → CBC	.18	2.60***	Supported
H5: Conformity → CBC	.01	.28 ^n.s.	Rejected
H6: Popularity → CBC	.18	3.38***	Supported
H7: Brand Identification → CBC	.35	8.40***	Supported
H8: Brand Loyalty → CBC	.12	2.85***	Supported
Goodness of fit χ2 = 1119.96 (p=.00); GFI=.94; CFI= .98; RMSEA=.049

Note: ***p < .001; n.s. non-significant.