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

Abstract

In this article we offer the first survey-based study on the motivations that spur consumers to bully others about the brands they support on social media, a phenomenon we term “Consumer Brand-Cyberbullying” (CBC). Analyzing data from 1,203 participants of online brand communities, we find that consumers who seek to be popular and attractive are more likely to engage in CBC, while those who seek to affiliate with close others and help the community are less likely to do so. Consumers who identify with and are loyal to a particular brand are more likely to engage in CBC. Taken together, our study moves us toward a systematic analysis of the relationship between brands and cyberbullying on social media.