Antecedents and consequences of the “cancel culture” firestorm journey for brands: is there a possibility for forgiveness?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper aims to discuss the antecedents and consequences of cancel culture and assess if brands can gain the forgiveness of consumers and mitigate the damages of social media firestorms, that usually evolve from online abuse (e.g. cyberbullying, harassment, and offensive talk). A quasi-experiment study was conducted through an online survey simulating the cancellation journey. Results show that cancel culture is triggered by ideological incompatibilities such as religion, racism, animal rights, LGBTQIA+ and environmental issues. After the scenario that simulated an ideological incompatibility related to racism, 178 respondents rated high levels of brand hate, negative WOM, brand avoidance, brand boycott, brand retaliation, and intention to cancel the brand. However, an ‘apology’ by the brand leads to brand forgiveness, a decrease in the intention to cancel the brand and an increase in purchase intention.