From brand ambassadors to brand adversaries: antecedents of luxury employee brand hate

Alice Guzzetti, Annachiara Docimo, Glyn Atwal and Klaus Heine ()
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Alice Guzzetti: Unicatt - Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore [Milano]
Annachiara Docimo: Unicatt - Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore [Milano]
Glyn Atwal: BSB - Burgundy School of Business (BSB) - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Dijon Bourgogne (ESC)
Klaus Heine: EM - EMLyon Business School

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Abstract: Purpose: This study investigates how intense dissatisfaction among frontline employees in the luxury retail sector leads to negative brand-oriented behaviours, conceptualized as employee brand hate. Design/methodology/approach: A database of 2,721 negative employee reviews from Glassdoor.com was analysed using opinion mining, semi-supervised machine learning techniques and regression analysis. Findings: The analysis of employee-generated content identified ten key drivers of negative word-of-mouth. These drivers were further examined through category ranking and comparative analyses across variables such as employee seniority and department. Practical implications: Key issues identified from the employees' perspective provide actionable strategic priorities for mitigating brand hate and strengthening internal brand perceptions. Originality/value: This study extends the brand hate literature by examining employee-driven negative brand-oriented behaviours in the luxury retail sector.

Keywords: Employer branding; Luxury; Retail; Employee brand hate; Brand hate; Negative word-of-mouth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-12-14
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05704526v1
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Published in Employee Relations, 2026, 48 (9), pp.121 - 141. ⟨10.1108/ER-06-2025-0436⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05704526

DOI: 10.1108/ER-06-2025-0436

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