Don’t make me hate you, my love! Perceived brand betrayal and the love-becomes-hate phenomenon

Aug 26, 2026

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Through three scenario-based experiments, this study examines how brand passion interacts with brand transgression type, perceived betrayal severity, and betrayal source to shape the understudied “love-becomes-hate” phenomenon, guided by the Emotion-in-Relationships Model. Study 1 shows passion emerges as an emotional response after transgression and that wrongdoing type drives the hate form among prior lovers. Study 2 highlights perceived betrayal as central to relationship polarity change, with functional wrongdoings producing stronger hate than moral or symbolic. Study 3 finds brand wrongdoings trigger more brand hate than employee wrongdoings.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Passion and relationship polarity

Prior research gaps

Causes and research needs

Journal of Business Research 187 (2025) 115060 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research journal [homepage:](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres)[ www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres) | Don’t make me hate you, my love! Perceived brand betrayal and the love-becomes-hate phenomenon | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Asli Tolunaya, Cleopatra Veloutsoub
a Yeditepe University, Faculty of Economy and Administrative Sciences, Business Administration Department, Kayisdagi Cad, 34755 Istanbul, Turkey b University of Glasgow, Adam Smith Business School, 2 Discovery Place, Glasgow G11 6EY, UK | | | | | A R T I C L E I N F O | | A B S T R A C T | | | Keywords:
Brand relationships
Brand love
Brand hate
“Love-becomes-hate”Brand betrayal
Brand transgression | | Through three scenario-based experiments and under the theoretical lens of Emotion-in-Relationships Model, this work examines the interplay between brand passion and brand transgression type (Studies 1 and 2), perceived betrayal severity (Studies 2 and 3) and betrayal source (Study 3) affecting the important yet underexamined “love-becomes-hate” phenomenon. Study 1 unveils passion as an emotional response posttransgression indicator and evidences the wrongdoing type’s influence on the generated hate type among erstwhile brand lovers. Study 2 finds perceived betrayal important in brand lovers’ brand relationships transformation, supporting that the wrongdoing type influences the generated hate type, with functional wrongdoings creating more severe hate forms than moral or symbolic wrongdoings. Study 3 reveals that for brand lovers brand wrongdoings produce more brand hate than employee wrongdoings. Overall, while consumers assess transgressions distinctively, functional and brand initiated wrongdoings need to be avoided at any cost. | | 1. Introduction Based on interpersonal relationship theory, research well establishes passion, an arching desire for connection (Hatfield and Walster, 1978), as a driver and developer of diverse consumer-brand relationships, forming consumer attitudes and actions (Fetscherin et al, 2019; OsunaRamírez et al., 2019; Fetscherin et al, 2021; Schreuder et al., 2024). In principle, depending on passion intensity (high/low) and valence (positive/negative), consumer-brand relationships are either positive (love/ like) or negative (hate/dislike). Both rooted in strong passion (Fetscherin et al., 2019; Osuna-Ramírez et al., 2024), love and hate contribute to beneficial or vicious consumers’ actions related to voicing (communication), choosing (transaction) or devotion (other kinds of reaction) (Fetscherin et al., 2021; Veloutsou, 2023). While most research suggests that individuals relate positively or negatively with a specific brand (Hung and Lu, 2018; Fetscherin & Veloutsou, 2024), seen as a relationship partner, latest evidence implies that consumer-brand relationships can be dynamic and change in polarity and strength over time (Aziz and Rahman, 2022; Aggarwal and Shi, 2018; Brand˜ao et al., 2023; Hashim and Kasana, 2019; Robertson et al., 2022; Veloutsou et al, 2020; Yadav and Chakrabarti, 2022; Zarantonello et al, 2018). Brands’ inadequacy to meet expectations may generate negative feelings or unfavourable responses, leading even to stronger complaints and attacks from highly passionate consumers with positive brand relationships, reducing trust (Gr´egoire et al, 2009), positive knowledge (Zarantonello et al., 2018), attachment (Jain and Sharma, 2019) and commitment (Gr´egoire et al., 2009), with brand relationship quality moderating the negative behavioural responses (Suet al., 2022). Because of its impact, industry reports and academic research has started to explore this “love-becomes-hate” phenomenon (Khamitov et al, 2020) and its unfavourable behavioural responses. As the “love-becomes-hate” knowledge advances, there are still aspects

FAQs

该研究如何解释“爱会变成恨”的形成机制？

研究使用三组情景实验，并以“人际关系中的情感模型”来检验品牌激情、越轨类型、背叛严重程度与背叛来源之间的作用，从而解释“爱会变成恨”现象如何发生。

不同类型的越轨会不会影响从爱到恨的结果？

会。研究指出，越轨类型会影响被转化为的恨的形式；其中功能性不当行为引发的仇恨强度高于道德性或象征性不当行为。

背叛来源是企业还是员工时，“爱会变成恨”是否不同？

不同。研究显示，对于品牌热恋者而言，品牌自身的不当行为带来的品牌仇恨高于员工的不当行为。

Aug 26, 2026

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