Consumer Brand Hostility

What it measures

Measures the extent to which a consumer harbours aggressive urges toward a brand and those associated with it, including a desire to damage property, insult staff, and deliver hostile verbal attacks. Developed for use in research on consumer brand sabotage — a phenomenon in which dissatisfied or aggrieved customers take active steps to harm a brand. The scale captures both physical damage intentions and verbal/social hostility. Validated with a European sample of nearly 300 participants.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=I completely disagree, 7=I completely agree)

Scale items

• I would like to punish the brand (and its employees).
• I feel the urge to of damage a store or building of the brand.
• I have the urge to attack the brand (and its employees).
• I have the urge to insult the brand (and its employees).
• I feel the urge to say something nasty to the brand (and its employees).

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Items tap into hypothetical destructive urges rather than actual behaviour. Use with care in sensitive research contexts. Scale items were obtained via personal correspondence with lead author.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Kähr, A., Nyffenegger, B., Krohmer, H., & Hoyer, W.D. (2016). When hostile consumers wreak havoc on your brand: The phenomenon of consumer brand sabotage. Journal of Marketing, 80(3), 25–41.

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