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Purpose
This paper aims to investigate whether brand anthropomorphism has a direct impact on brand hate and what are the prevailing factors that play a significant role in this relationship.


Design/methodology/approach
This study provides insights on brand anthropomorphism phenomenon and negative consumer–brand relationships in the context of social media-based anti-brand communities. Using a quantitative analysis of the data gathered from an online survey, this study analyzes brand anthropomorphism in the three main online anti-brand communities toward Apple.


Findings
Findings indicated that brand anthropomorphism in itself does not impact on brand hate directly. Nevertheless, when it is used by consumers to express their negative feelings toward the hatred brand, the consumers' attribution of responsibility and intentionality to Apple brand's behavior positively affects brand hate, and ideological incompatibility is a good moderator for brand hate.


Research limitations/implications
The results of this study are based on a limited number of survey respondents because anti-brand community members are very difficult to access, and thus, it was not easy to have their collaboration for this research.


Practical implications
This study highlights the power of social media as a tool for establishing negative consumer–brand relationships. Therefore, brand managers must recognize that consumer activists may be a serious threat to the company and deal with the consumers' tendency to use anthropomorphism to express their hate.


Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the link between brand anthropomorphism and brand hate, analyzed through a quantitative analysis.

PurposeExtending the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this paper aims to measure the relative importance of different barriers to sustainable fashion consumption (SFC).Design/methodology/approachExisting studies have mainly adopted a qualitative methodology for identifying barriers to uptake of SFC, this study uses six of the main identified barriers: environmental apparel knowledge, perceived value, price sensitivity, product attributes and variety, availability and scepticism into the TPB framework to test and reveal which barriers have the greater impact on the TPB cognitions and consequently on building intention towards SFC. To test this model a survey study among 669 consumers from Europe, Asian and North America was conducted, structural equation modelling is used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsFindings confirm the role of TPB cognitions on predicting intention and show that the proposed barriers provide a satisfactory explanation of the TPB model. Furthermore, results show that product attributes and variety and environmental apparel knowledge have the greatest impact on the TPB cognitions and on building intention towards SFC. Differences were found between the impacts of the price for the three continents.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the emerging sustainable fashion literature by examining the impact of different barriers to SFC in an extended TPB framework. To the best of our knowledge price sensitivity, availability and scepticism have never been studied in the context of sustainable fashion. It also provides a multifactor group analysis which uncovers differences among consumers from different continents.

Purpose
– Brands have traditionally been regarded as a key asset and a source of competitive advantage in purchasing decisions, as customers are expected to prefer stronger brands to minimize risks. However, the role of brands in business markets is unclear and underresearched. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relevance of brands in a business-to-business (B2B) purchase setting and their key determinants.


Design Methodology/approach
– A research model was developed to explain brand relevance when compared with other decision factors in a B2B context. Based on the frameworks developed by Zablah et al. (2010) and Mudambi (2002), the model considers the purchase situation, decision-maker characteristics and firm size as determinants of brand relevance in the decision-making process. One of the most prominent Portuguese construction groups, which comprised three companies, was chosen for the sample of this study. Data were collected through a self-administered, online, cross-sectional survey, resulting in a convenience sample of 87 decision-makers.


Findings
– Findings suggest that attributes related with brands matter even in B2B rational decision-making processes. However, brands are not important to all organizational buyers or in all situations. Different purchase situations and decision-maker characteristics proved to have an impact on brand relevance, namely, brand reputation, prior purchases and brand awareness. Only firm size was not confirmed as a determinant of brand relevance in the B2B purchasing process.


Originality/value
– B2B brand research is scarce, especially for industrial services. By investigating the determinants of brand relevance in a B2B purchasing context, namely, in a construction services setting, this study contributes to bridging this literature gap. Moreover, the few studies on the subject have been largely descriptive in nature and managerially oriented, while this investigation emphasizes hypothesis testing through a proposed research framework. Also, in managerial terms, identifying determinants of the importance given to brands by organizational buyers is critical in deciding when investment in brand development is more likely to payoff.

This paper aimed to empirically deepen our understanding of the growing phenomenon of negative consumer-brand relationships in the Internet, striving to investigate "who and why" consumers join anti-brand communities against the top ten global brands. In particular, this study aims to investigate whether the consumers' profile affects whether they develop negative feelings or not, and the main reasons for their negative feelings. Methodologically, this study is based on the quantitative methodology of the survey and on the statistical verification of several research hypotheses formulated on the impact of the main consumer characteristics (gender, age, country of origin, education, empathy) on their behavior towards the hated brands. Regarding "who", our findings show that gender, age and country of origin are the main consumer characteristics affecting both their negative feelings towards brands and their willingness to join an anti-brand community. Regarding "why", low quality of products/services and a lack of corporate social responsibility are the main reasons for hating brands. Finally, this study contributes to knowledge of negative consumer-brand relationships in the Internet domain and provides advanced insights into consumer behavior with reference to the top global brands. It also encourages further research on the interconnections among the central questions of this paper, i.e., who and why individuals join anti-brand communities, and represents a starting point for further studies aimed at expanding the consumer characteristics investigated in this paper, including personality traits. This study also pioneers the profile of anti-brand community participants in the Internet, which is so pertinent in the rise of marketing 5.0.

Purpose
This paper aims to propose a dynamic and holistic framework that combines the brand portfolio audit with the brand architecture redesign.


Design/methodology/approach
Depicting from an extensive review on the frameworks of brand audit and brand architecture, a dynamic approach to brand portfolio audit and brand architecture strategy was developed, and later applied and tested in three B2B and B2C companies.


Findings
The paper suggests an eight-step framework to guide practitioners when auditing a specific brand portfolio and designing a revised brand architecture strategy. Additionally, a Brand Audit Scorecard was developed to enable and sustain brand portfolio audits, divided into three dimensions (brand equity, brand contribution and strategic options).


Research limitations/implications
Further research should aim at testing the proposed framework in different types of companies and countries.


Originality/value
This paper contributes to the brand audit and brand architecture literature by proposing a holistic framework that is not static.

Social media has provided opportunities for businesses to develop close relationships with customers leading to customers' engagement as it influences loyalty and satisfaction, and assists in expanding the markets. While small and medium enterprises (SME) are at a disadvantage compared to large firms, establishing management control in a foreign market remains a challenge. In addition, a considerable number of studies on foreign market entry mode choice have concentrated on large firms. Moreover, social media has become increasingly relevant for SME to "level the playing ground" with large firms. However, little is known about the SME role in engaging with their customers and especially in how SME use social media capabilities. We respond to this gap in the literature by exploring how SME use social media platforms to connect with customers in a foreign market. A qualitative analysis was conducted through in-depth interviews with six Portuguese firms. The findings indicate that social media provides a distinctive pathway to SME to connect emotionally with customers in a foreign market.

The internationalization of music festivals is a very recent and very complex process – due to the subjectivity of the theme – that encompasses the areas of management, internationalization, and culture, and has intensified in recent years. This paper investigates the ways in which music festivals are currently internationalized and the internal processes prior to this decision. Its primary objective is to identify the main strategies of internationalization used by companies owning cultural goods, such as music festivals. Another goal is to fill an academic gap between internationalization theories and cultural management, contributing with the compilation and description of the main techniques employed by the market through a qualitative approach to the methodology and content analysis on decision-makers' interviews. The results can confirm the internationalization model mostly used by the sector, which prefers a phased method. Main entry strategies, territory-choosing process, and motivations and reasons behind this process are also investigated.

In a market accentuated by globalization and digital consolidation, high fashion brands start to rethink the way of producing, communicating and distributing their supply, adopting the See Now, Buy Now (SNBN) model to guarantee the possibility of instant gratification. Literature has been scarce concerning SNBN as a new paradigm of contemporary fashion, more particularly, in what concerns its relationship with brand equity. This study seeks to identify the critical variables of SNBN and analyze its feasibility in production and consumption of fashion. It has applied a mixed and sequential methodology. The Portuguese case is worth analysing because of its similarities with countries where the fashion and creative industries' role is still uncertain, but still often mentioned and talked about. The results suggested that there is a positive relation between its adoption and brand equity – in particular a more hybrid strategy of adoption, considering its risks and investments.