Cancel culture scale development and implications for brands
摘要
Cancel culture has become a prominent form of consumer resistance on social media, yet marketing research lacks validated measures to capture its distinct behavioral components. Drawing on herd behavior theory, this study develops and validates a two-dimensional scale to measure consumers’ cancel culture behavioral intentions toward both corporations and individuals. Using qualitative interviews and multiple survey-based data collections, the research identifies two distinct dimensions of cancel culture behavioral intentions: boycotting or avoiding the targeted entity, and publicly commenting on or critiquing the entity on social media. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses across independent samples support the reliability and validity of the proposed scales. Structural equation modeling further illustrates that social justice attitudes are positively associated with boycott intentions and that boycott behavior plays a mediating role in translating social justice concerns into public commentary. By distinguishing between boycotting and commenting as distinct forms of cancel culture behavior and by revealing the relationship between consumers’ sense of social justice and their likelihood of engaging in cancel culture behavior, this research advances the conceptualization and measurement of cancel culture behavioral intentions in marketing contexts and offers actionable insights for managers seeking to anticipate and respond to consumer backlash.