Macro-level antecedents of consumer brand hate

Purpose This study aims to discuss the antecedent roles that corporate social responsibility and consumer complaints perform in consumer brand hate and anti-branding activities. Design/methodology/approach The reasons for the existence of anti-brand websites and how they operate in dynamically changing digital platforms are discussed with a literature review and data analysis. Findings The findings of this study reveal that there is a direct link between consumer dissatisfaction and brand hate, and that there is a partially mediating impact by customer dissatisfaction and corporate social responsibility on consumer brand hate. Originality/value This study is the first-of-its-kind investigation of the relationships that might exist among corporate social responsibility, consumer complaints and dissatisfaction, consumer anti-branding and brand hate with macro-level indicators. The study is the first of its kind to test macro-level brand hate measures with a set of longitudinal analyses.