| Abstract | Around the turn of the century marketing underwent a significant change. What was previously a marketer controlled, outbound marketing environment turned into a consumer-controlled environment. Traditional marketing tactics had become less effective and marketers shifted their efforts to increase consumer word-of-mouth and engagement. Even though positive online engagement can boost a brand, giving consumers the freedom to interact and create content can be very dangerous. When consumers feel like they are being marketed to too much, they often take to digital platforms to voice their complaints. Psychological reactance was a term coined by Jack Brehm in the 1960's who explained that when someone feels that one of their behavioral freedoms is being threatened, they will respond by enacting that freedom. For many consumers the overflow of marketing made them feel as though their freedom of choice was being infringed upon, and they would respond by lashing out against the company. Consumer reactance can take many forms from simply not buying a product to spreading negative word-of-mouth to verbally attacking the company. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate consumer reactance, develop hypotheses for future testing, and discuss the implications of the phenomenon. |
