Negative Effect Formation Mechanism and Crisis Response Strategies in Meme Marketing

Meme Marketing is a marketing practice in which brands complete symbolic communication in the social media field by appropriating or creating Internet modes with subcultural genes. Meme Marketing has become an important means for brands to attract young users due to its fast-spreading speed and strong interactivity, which can reduce publicity costs and increase brand awareness, but its negative effects have not been fully explored. This study finds that vulgar memes are the most repulsive type to consumers, which causes long-term damage to brands via the path of “emotion-cognition-behaviour” through mixed research methods including a questionnaire survey, SPSS correlation analysis, and social media sentiment analysis.; Moreover, in crisis response, the image recovery effect of the combination of “apology + compensation” is significantly better than that of a single apology. However, negative emotions still dominate in public comments. In addition, there is a discrepancy between the sentiment analysis results and the survey findings, which may be attributed to social desirability bias causing users to express themselves differently in public and private settings This study reveals the potential risks of meme marketing and provides recommendations for brands to avoid backlash, as well as remedial measures for brands that have already encountered meme-related failures.