PurposeThis study explores the underlying mechanism of psychological reactance that leads to online shopping hate in social commerce. Based on self-congruity and psychological reactance theory, this study examines the antecedents (symbolic, functional and emotional incongruence) and consequences (online shopping hate) of psychological reactance among online users toward online shopping. Moreover, this study takes trustworthiness as a moderator in the relationship between attitude ambivalence and psychological reactance.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from online users.FindingsThe results show that symbolic-incongruence and functional-incongruence are responsible for attitude ambivalence, resulting in high psychological reactance. In addition, the study’s findings reveal that psychological reactance is positively linked with online shopping hate. This study extends and contributes to the self-congruence theory and empirically examines the influence of emotional incongruence. The moderating results reveal that trustworthiness moderated the relationship between attitude ambivalence and psychological reactance. The study findings are helpful for marketing managers to develop social commerce strategies.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.Practical implicationsThe study findings are helpful for marketing managers to develop social commerce strategies.Originality/valueThis study explains the underlying mechanism of brand hate through psychological reactance.

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the determinants and consequences of psychological reactance in the online shopping context. Leveraging the psychological reactance and self-congruity theories, functional and symbolic discrepancies enhance the psychological reactance toward online shopping. In addition, trustworthiness moderates the impact of online customers attitude ambivalence on their psychological reactance. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct an empirical study on online customer cognitive factors. In this research paper, the postpositivism research view is used. The Smart PLS-SEM is used to analyze the data. Findings The current study findings reveal that self-concept and operational incongruence (i.e. symbolic and functional) are the main factors that lead to psychological reactance and resulting in online shopping hate. Poor website quality and other matters are so significant they create functional incongruence. Moreover, low trustworthiness strengthens psychological reactance in the online shopping hate context. Originality/value This study extends the psychological reactance and self-congruence theories to online shopping. Previously, literature has extensively studied the social commerce intention.