Cancel culture and the consumer: A strategic marketing perspective

Celebrities and brands have been perceived to be more powerful in the consumer-celebrity-brand relationship. Of late, this power balance has been reversed with the presence of social media allowing consumers to wield this tool over celebrities and brands in the wake of a negative episode, such as an objectionable and controversial incident. This causes celebrities and brands, referred to as the influence target, to be cancelled. The power within relationships theory is used to examine the consumer cancel culture framework. A lack in power dimensions such as warmth and competence cause consumers to experience a decline in their attachment, resulting in cancelling the influence targets more so if the attachment style exhibited by the consumer is anxious and avoidant. This is the first paper in consumer-behaviour to explore this phenomenon from an academic perspective and has practical implications for protecting celebrities and brands from cancel episodes.