Don´T Knock the Competition – Knock the Rival: Why Brand Rivalry Creates Message Virality

Despite evidence that rivalry is conceptually distinct from (intense) competition, marketers confound both concepts. Connecting rivalry theory and storytelling literature, we show that targeting rival (vs. non-rival) competitors in brand communications increases message virality, an effect driven by the perception that the message is a part of a bigger narrative.



Citation:

Johannes Berendt, Sebastian Uhrich, Abhishek Borah, and Gavin Kilduff (2021) ,"Don´T Knock the Competition – Knock the Rival: Why Brand Rivalry Creates Message Virality", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 49, eds. Tonya Williams Bradford, Anat Keinan, and Matthew Matthew Thomson, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 386-387.

Authors

Johannes Berendt, German Sport University Cologne
Sebastian Uhrich, German Sport University Cologne
Abhishek Borah, INSEAD
Gavin Kilduff, NYU Stern School of Business



Volume

NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 49 | 2021



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