The bright and dark of consumers’ online brand defending behaviors: exploring their enablers, realization, and impacts

ABSTRACT

It is increasingly popular for Internet users to comment or criticize the products or services they have used or experienced. However, other consumers may not agree with or may even defend against these critics or comments. These consumers’ brand defending behaviors, especially in online contexts, may lead to Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) conflicts and damages on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Still, the concept of brand defending has not been fully established. Furthermore, researchers have not adequately explored how these behaviors are triggered and how these would affect the brand and other stakeholders. By conducting a netnographic case study on an aviation-related online community, we identified the enablers and styles of consumers’ online brand defending behaviors and their impacts on the brands, alongside the theoretical and practical implications.

KEYWORDS:

• eWOM
• C2C conflicts
• brand defending
• case study
• digital marketing
• online communities

Notes

¹ Trash-talking refers to the actions of offending one’s competitor verbally (Simons 2003). It is usually the result of consumers’ desire to positively differentiate a particular brand from rival brands (Hickman and Ward 2007) Schadenfreude refers to feelings of malicious pleasure based on the failure or misfortune of others (Feather and Sherman 2002).

² It is a variation of a local idiom accusing a person lacks trustworthiness.

³ Known as “DM,” the highest member tier of the frequent flyer program of Cathay Pacific.

⁴ “Are you just arriving in major cities” was commonly used in the Chinese language to accuse someone with no common sense.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cheuk Hang Au

Cheuk Hang Au is an assistant professor at the National Chung Cheng University. He completed his PhD degree at the University of Sydney Business School. His research focuses on digital entrepreneurship, IS Education and digital-enabled social innovations. His related publications can be found in Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS), the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Internet Research, Australian Journal of Management (AJM), the International Journal of Knowledge Management (IJKM), the Journal of Computer Information Systems (JCIS), and other outlets.

Kevin K. W. Ho

Kevin K. W. Ho is the Professor of Management Information Systems at the School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam. Kevin's research interests include electronic service, information systems strategy, social media, and sustainability management. He is the Co-Editor(−in-Chief) of Library Hi Tech (an SSCI Journal) and the associate editor of the International Journal of Systems and Service-Oriented Engineering. His research has been published in Behaviour & Information Technology, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Computers in Human Behaviour, Decision Support Systems, Internet Research, Information & Management, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, and Online Information Review, among others.

Kris M. Y. Law

Dr. Kris Law  is an academic researcher and educator with extensive international exposure. She is currently the Honorary Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science, Engineering, Built and Environment, Deakin University, Australia and the Docent (adjunct professorship) in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Oulu University in Finland.

Dr. Law obtained a good grounding in engineering through her studies in BEng (Hons), the background inspired her to proceed to MPhil study in the field of Engineering Technology and PhD in the field of organizational learning and development at City University of Hong Kong. She obtained her post-doctoral research scholarship in the National Taiwan University on a regional high-tech industry study, then took up a visiting researcher position at the Graduate Institute of Industrial Engineering, National Taiwan University (2009- 2011).

Her expertise lies in Organizational Learning and Development (OLD), Innovation and Entrepreneurship, STEM Education, Knowledge Representation, Digital Critical Infrastructure, Learning Analytics and Project Management.