The Role of Perceived Quality and Customer Self-Incongruence on Customer-Brand Disidentification

Previous research in customer-brand relationships has found brand disidentification as one of the reasons for customers turning against brands. However, there is not much clarity on the antecedents of brand disidentification. Aligning with the balance theory, this research argues that self-incongruence and positive/negative emotions with the brand are related to brand disidentification. Taking the sample of 292 observations and using structural equation modeling (SEM), it was found that self-incongruence is the main driver of customer-brand disidentification (CBD). Similarly, perceived quality was found to be related to CBD for low level of self-incongruence. Based on our survey prompt, which asked respondents to consider brands that they have previously purchased and utilized but no longer use because they no longer align with their current identity, our data analysis suggests that the process of CBD occurs over time. Additionally, we find that CBD is not only associated with negative emotions but also encompasses positive emotions.