Addressing False Brand Information in the Marketplace

This chapter addresses the case of false brand information (negative brand rumors in particular) via a novel conceptual framework that explains its acceptance and dissemination despite low credibility. It proposes that rumor processing occurs via an affective route that is largely unconscious and therefore lacks appropriate cognitive scrutiny. Consumer response to brands affected by negative rumors is argued to be conceptually similar to the processing of hypothetical questions and reflective of mental contamination – a process wherein consumers experience an automatic, unconscious activation of the negative information presented in the rumor. Given that the resulting, unfavorable brand attitudes have an affective origin, theory predicts (and empirical results confirm) that changing them requires affect-based strategies for rumor quelling.