Dear Brand; This is why I Love or Hate you

Recent research highlights that many brands are polarizing, attracting both passionate supporters and strong detractors. Managers often deliberately cultivate strategies that embrace this diversity, nurturing intense brand passion and involvement, which in turn helps clarify the brand’s positioning and strengthen audience engagement. However very little is known about brand polarization. Using qualitative data from 317 informants, this study focuses on brand polarization and seeks to classify the boundary conditions that cause consumers to perceive a brand as polarizing. While there is an extensive list of reasons presented in the data, preliminary findings confirm the existence of brand polarization and demonstrate that identical brand stimuli can elicit opposed responses from different consumers, resulting in the formation of contradictory yet strong feelings toward a brand. They suggest that brand polarization may stem from (a) brand characteristics or features, (b) associations with the brand and related entities, (c) current or past consumer experiences, or (d) critical brand incidents that carry symbolic or emotional significance.