ABSTRACT

Nowadays, supply exceeds demand rendering consumers the opportunity to select, buy and consume brands that equals their personalities. Owing to the fact that several offerings are available in the market, consumers tend to reject some brands. Whereas most prevailing studies are geared towards building robust consumer-brand relationships and nurturing brand loyalty, the area of brand avoidance has received little attention. Furthermore, it is argued that brand emotions act as mediators between brand stimuli and consumer behaviour. However, it is unclear how negative brand emotions impact brand avoidance. This study therefore determined the drivers of brand avoidance among Ghanaian service consumers; and examined the mediating role of brand hate in the relationship between brand avoidance and its drivers. To investigate this, a large-scale quantitative study with a sample size of 318 respondents within the Greater Accra metropolis was conducted. The data was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in AMOS. The findings of the study revealed that, out of five proposed drivers, three drivers – unmet expectations, symbolic incongruence and unacceptable trade-offs – are shown to influence the avoidance of brands. Failed communications was shown to have an inverse significance on brand avoidance. Furthermore, the three validated drivers, including failed communications, are partially mediated by brand hate. Ideological incompatibility had a non-significant effect on brand avoidance. Managers must ensure that they prevent the drivers of brand avoidance from occurring to avoid negative consumer-brand relationships. Further studies may want to investigate into more detail the three drivers confirmed to influence brand avoidance among Ghanaian service consumers using an inductive approach.