New research shows that brands can sometimes benefit by embracing insults or negative labels rather than ignoring or denying them. When brands embrace negative labels thrust upon them, consumers may perceive them as more confident and humorous, leading to greater engagement and more positive brand attitudes. However, the strategy works only for insults that are benign, unjustified, or from nonvulnerable individuals. How should brands react when faced with negativity from reviewers' Recent research published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology suggests that brands could benefit by proudly brandishing the very insults hurled at them. Researchers Katherine Du, Lingrui Zhou, and Keisha Cutright examined whether brands can benefit from 'reappropriating' insults, or intentionally adopting an externally imposed negative label. When the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team was called 'a bunch of jerks' by a commentator for their celebratory antics, for example, they put the phrase on...
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