Identity brand avoidance: How is it manifested in social media?

Existing research on brand symbolic consumption mainly focuses on brand approach; the phenomenon being explained by the theory of self congruity, i.e. consumers would approach brands whose image is congruent to their actual or ideal self. On the other hand, identity brand avoidance, has been object of less attention. The scarce research dedicated to this field essentially revolves around the causes of identity brand avoidance, i.e. when consumers have a positive image of themselves and a negative image of a brand, they would avoid the brand. This paper sheds the light on manifestation of identity brand avoidance on social media, namely how consumers express the discrepancy they hold with a brand in an environment where they can easily express themselves, gather with their peers, educate each other, and even act against a brand. Three main themes of identity brand avoidance emerge from the study: identity brand avoidance for identity acquisition purposes, identity brand avoidance to maintain an identity and identity brand avoidance to protect an identity