PurposeThe purpose of this study is to place the antecedents and consequences of brand hate in the context of negative consumer–brand relationship in the telecommunication industry. It provides a response to the existing gap in the research on brand hate in consumer behavior in service brands.Design/methodology/approachA survey-based data was modeled after theory that aims to apply concepts to the telecommunications industry. With a solid model grounded and context-adapted, a mediation analysis of the role of brand hate in negative antecedents and consequences toward brands was performed.FindingsBrand hate was found to mediate all the negative relationships proposed, while showing to be especially significant in mediating negative word of mouth. This model appropriately fits the services' marketing brand and revealed new insights into the function of brand hate in negative relationships that are specific to service marketing consumer brands.Research limitations/implicationsBranding theory may benefit from deeper insights into the negative side of consumer–brand relationships. A broader illustration of its constituents in different industries and the recovery of the management approach to these circumstances bring innovation and a richer understanding, specially to the role of brand hate in the mediation context as seen in the literature (Hegner et al., 2017; Zarantonello et al., 2016)Practical implicationsManagerial implications include assessing brands in analyzing and relating to different emotions and concepts from customers, allowing to prioritize and mapping the customer relationship touchpoints.Originality/valueThe present study presents a first insight of brand hate in the context of the service industry of telecommunications in southern Europe while testing brand hate as a mediator involving negative predictors leading to negative outcomes in consumer–brand relationships.

This systematic literature review analyzes the topic of anti-consumption within the framework of public policy and discusses the multilevel implications for social marketing. Previous research provides a broader scope of analysis based on cases suggesting public policy implications of anti-consumption. However, the topic broadens into social issues and calls for the discussion of the social role and the relationship to sustainability. Building on the goal number 12—Responsible Consumption and Production—of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the authors analyzed 42 peer-reviewed papers to assess the relationship quantitatively and qualitatively between public policy and anti-consumption, pointing to future avenues of research. The results show how policymakers can address either disruptive or transitional approaches by considering systemic changes. Public infrastructure and public management are important factors to support policies aiming to achieve sustainable and replacement consumption. However, participatory and transparency mechanisms are needed to effect this social change, which reaffirms the importance of stakeholders and the analysis of their relationships. The impact of anti-consumption on macro and structural changes may be hard to measure, but should not be dismissed. This paper calls for a broad approach to anti-consumption and the mapping of stakeholders – including individuals, organizations, governments, researchers and the media – by applying a social marketing perspective to sustainability concerns. By linking anti-consumption both with social marketing and the contemporary challenge of environmental sustainability reflected on the SDGs, this paper bridges the gap between individual analysis of anti-consumption and its impact and potential to address sustainability challenges.

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