Brand Consumption Denial: Conceptualization, Scale Development, and Validation

ABSTRACT Despite the broad literature on brand‐related positive or negative responses, there is limited understanding about the brands people avoid in public but continue to use in private. This paper addresses this gap by introducing and conceptualizing a novel construct called brand consumption denial, which is defined as the active denial of one's relationship with a brand to avoid negative social judgment or to protect the privacy of a valued relationship. Furthermore, this study develops a reliable, valid, and robust scale to measure brand consumption denial. Five studies reveal it is distinct and multidimensional, comprising (1) social judgment–driven brand consumption denial and (2) secret love–driven brand consumption denial. Results further show brand consumption denial has divergent effects on consumer–brand relationships: social judgment–driven brand consumption denial weakens attachment and recommendation intention, whereas secret love–driven brand consumption denial sustains attachment and even reinforces recommendation intention without self‐disclosure.