Heartbreakers Must Die! Consumer Responses toward Brand Alliance Termination

How do consumers react when brands in an alliance terminate their relationship? This research finds that when brand alliances are ended unilaterally, consumers will perceive the termination as more unfair compared to when ended mutually. This unfairness perception, in turn, results in negative consumer responses to the “dumper” (i.e., the brand initiating the unilateral termination), from a general brand avoidance tendency to specific avoidance behaviors. These negative responses, however, are absent for the “dumpee” (i.e., the brand forced to accept the unilateral termination) and brands in mutual terminations. Moreover, consumers’ negative responses are attenuated when unilateral terminations are deemed justifiable.