Management of crises of brazilian brands on social networks

Consumer behavior in a digital environment is the central element of this study and represents a relevant theme and a challenge for marketing managers. The starting question of this study is related to concepts such as transparency and digital swarm proposed by the South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han. These concepts are relevant to understand the Brazilian context of brands involved in the digital environment. This study uses a qualitative approach for data collection, through the methodology of multiple case studies. For data collection, the netnography method of research and content analysis were used for the evaluation of results. The findings reject the theory proposed by Byung-Chul Han, since Brazilian consumers seem to be avid to engage in storms caused by online crises. In addition, they present enough capability to articulate the promotion of concrete negative effects from the point of view of economic losses, political pressures, and shocks in the stock market segment. For future studies, analyses in other international contexts are suggested to compare and discuss about the exercise of freedom by citizens in a digital environment and its negative impacts on the corporate assets of organizations.