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This brand is #cancelled: Exploring brand avoidance in the age of cancel culture and influencer marketing
Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing,
11
(4),
349-361
(2024)
Abstract
Cancel culture — a collective disengagement typically expressed on social media — is becoming increasingly common. Its ‘victims’ extend from celebrities to corporate brands. As active participants and opinion leaders, social media influencers can also add flames to the cancellation of brands on social media. Thus, this study is designed to explore the impact of information sources, cognitive reflection, influencer credibility and parasocial relationships with influencers on brand cancellation and brand avoidance. Survey results from 486 participants indicate that when influencers’ impact is not factored into the research model, cognitive reflection is not a significant mediator between information sources and cancelling behaviours towards brands, and cancelling behaviour is a negative predictor of brand avoidance. When the impact of influencers is included in the research model, however, the mediation role of cognitive reflection becomes significant, and cancelling behaviours are not significant contributors to brand avoidance. Instead, perceived influencer credibility significantly predicts cancelling behaviours and brand avoidance. The study concludes with a discussion of the practical implications of crisis communication in the context of cancel culture and influencer marketing.
Keywords: cancel culture; influencer credibility; brand avoidance; cognitive reflection; parasocial relationship
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Ruonan Zhang is an assistant professor at Rollins College. Her research interests centre on influencer marketing, social media and brand promotion, interactive marketing and public relations. She predominantly uses quantitative research methods, including cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys and online experiments.
Savanna Pruitt is a specialist in search engine optimisation and content management, with over seven years of experience in the field. Since graduating summa cum laude from Auburn University at Montgomery with a BA in communications, she has honed her skills in the ever-evolving world of digital marketing to become an expert in helping brands stand out in the crowded digital space.
Nicky Chang Bi is an assistant professor in the School of Communication at the University of Nebraska Omaha. She teaches capstone for public relations and advertising, strategic communication, foundation in journalism and mass communication, computer-mediated communication, social media and quantitative research methods. Her research focuses on public relations, strategic communication, advertising, social media and health communication. Her research is motivated by her interest in how to reach the audience we want without having to broadcast the messages to everyone. Her research focuses on why and how people engage in electronic word-of-mouth communication on social networking sites. Specifically, her work explores message diffusion and its effects on social media. She earned her doctorate in media and communication from Bowling Green State University.
