Anti-branding: a way to destroy brands? Case of Apple Inc.

In recent decade we experienced a tremendous shift in social media as well as in its usage. One of the primary objectives of social media is to increase brand awareness through building stronger relationships between companies and customers (Hening-Thurau, Hofackerm, Bloching, 2013). However, due to the consumer empowerment, and rise in social and political awareness within society, social media platforms are used not just to show the loyalty and love for a brand.  It is as well a tool which allows to express and share disappointment, unethical actions of the company, organize boycotts and spread the word of hate within the society. Such negative word of mouth (WOM) distributed within different platforms could be very harmful for the brand. However, empirical studies and Apple Inc. case showed that anti-branding does not necessarily harms brands. If company manages them well, it can be converted into valuable information source for future development of the brand.

 

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