How Should Retailers Deal with Consumer Sabotage of a Manufacturer Brand?

In the context of retail branding, the recently identified and conceptualized phenomenon of consumer brand sabotage (CBS) has become highly relevant as CBS does not only harm targeted manufacturer brands but also related retailer brands. Whereas the necessity of a managerial response to CBS seems evident, finding the most effective retailer response appears to be more complex. This article examines potential negative spillover effects from a sabotaged manufacturer brand on the respective retailer. Furthermore, it studies outcomes of different response strategies of retailers and takes important contingency factors (i.e., type of CBS and retailer’s assortment size) and process variables (i.e., fairness perceptions) into account. Based on two large-scale online experiments, this article reveals negative spillover effects from a sabotaged manufacturer brand on the retailer brand and that an adequate response of the retailer (i.e., delisting vs. continuing to carry the brand) can decrease this effect, depending on contingency factors.