Date: 2025-06-10 “From a societal perspective, it’s definitely better not to have sales. Still, I do like sales” A qualitative study of consumer responses to demarketing campaigns during Black Friday through the lens of Cognitive Dissonance and Brand Authenticity. FEK315 Bachelor Thesis in Marketing, 15 hp Department of Business Administration Authors: Lobna Alloh & Amanda Kleijn Supervisor: Ellen Gustafsson 1 Preface In a time where the effects of the climate crisis are becoming increasingly evident, consumers just as corporations must take responsibility. Our thesis aims to study consumer responses to brands’ efforts to discourage consumption during the high consumption event Black Friday. However, decreasing consumption in a society that is built on it seems, as one might expect, to be easier said than done. We would like to direct a sincere thanks to our supervisor Ellen Gustafsson for her valuable guidance and advice throughout the course of this work. We also want to thank all of the respondents that agreed to participate in our interviews. Without your contributions, this study would not have been possible. Thank you! We hope that our study will encourage further research and contribute to the ongoing discussion on sustainable consumption and how brands and other stakeholders can take responsibility in this issue. We hope you will have an enjoyable reading! 2 Abstract In a society where Black Friday has become a symbol for mass consumption, some brands have taken a stand against it, using demarketing strategies to discourage over consumption and to establish an image of being an environmentally responsible brand. Drawing on the concept of brand authenticity and cognitive dissonance theory, this study addresses the question of how consumers respond to such messages. Using an abductive approach, we conducted 12 semi-structured interviews and analysed the data through thematic analysis. Findings reveal that while consumers have positive attitudes towards demarketing strategies during Black Friday, these perceptions are shaped by whether the consumer views the message as aligned with the brand’s image, credibility, sincerity, and personal values. Even though consumers expressed positive attitudes towards demarketing campaigns, they also experienced cognitive dissonance, feeling a conflict between wanting to take advantage of the Black Friday deals and maintaining their sustainable values. A couple of cognitive dissonance reducing strategies were identified, such as emphasizing financial savings and postponing purchases to the event. Our research digs deeper into how consumers respond to demarketing strategies in the context of Black Friday, suggesting a potential shift towards a more conscious consumption. However, further research is required. Key words: Demarketing, Black Friday, Sustainability, Brand Authenticity, Cognitive Dissonance. 3 1. Introduction 5 1.1. Background 5 1.2 Problem discussion 7 1.3 Purpose and Research Question 8 1.4 Delimitations 9 2. Literature review 9 2.1 Demarketing & the emergence of green demarketing 9 2.2 CSR and consumer perceptions 10 2.3 Thinking Green but Acting Otherwise - cognitive dissonance 12 2.4 Black Friday 14 2.5 Demarketing strategies related to Black Friday 15 3. Theoretical framework 16 3.1 Brand authenticity 16 3.1.1 Brand authenticity linked to demarketing strategies and Black Friday 17 3.2 Cognitive dissonance 18 3.2.1 Cognitive dissonance linked to demarketing strategies and Black Friday 21 4. Methodology 22 4.1 Choice of method 22 4.1.2 Abductive approach 23 4.2 Research Process and Interview Guide Design 24 4.2.1 Literature search 24 4.2.2 Research process 24 4.2.3 Type of Data (Primary/Secondary) 25 4.3 Data Collection 25 4.3.2 Pilot interview 26 4.3.3 Interview process 26 4.4 Respondents criteria 27 4.4.1 Purposive sampling 29 4.5 Analysis method 29 4.6 Ethical guidelines 30 4.7 Validity 31 4.8 Integration of AI Tools in the Research Process 32 5. Analysis and Empirical findings 32 4 5.1 Perceived Brand Authenticity and Trust 34 5.1.2 Authenticity through consistency 34 5.1.3 Authenticity through credibility 35 5.1.4 Authenticity through integrity 37 5.1.5 Authenticity through symbolism 40 5.2 Consumption dilemma and cognitive dissonance 43 5.2.1 Financial savings as an excuse 44 5.2.2 Planning purchases ahead 45 5.2.3 Pushing responsibility away 46 5.2.4 Offsetting the purchases with other sustainable behaviors 47 5.2.5 Change is too costly 49 6. Discussion 49 6.1 Future research 52 6.2 Implications for marketers or practitioners 52 6.3 Implications for society 53 7. Limitations 54 8. Conclusion 54 9. References 56 10. Appendix- Interview guide 63 1. Introduction 1.1 Background In recent years, Black Friday has become one of the most important shopping events in the retail industry. The concept originated as a post-Thanksgiving tradition in the 1960s that officially kicked off the Christmas shopping season in the US. Since then, it has expanded globally and is now characterized by rituals of mass consumption that are regularly practiced by multiple generations of friends and family (Thomas & Peters, 2011). In the event’s country of origin, around 197 million Americans made purchases throughout the Black Friday and Cyber Monday holidays during 2024 (NRF, 2024). In Sweden, the Black Friday concept has significantly grown in popularity in recent years, and Black Week was forecasted to account for sales around 9,7 billion Swedish kronor (Svensk handel, 2024). These statistics reflect how Black Friday embodies the 5 exponential growth of mass consumerism, a practice that has been embedded in the public mind. The connection between Black Friday and overconsumption has been looked at in terms of its contribution to environmental issues. Most specifically, how the consumption and production of the textile industry contributed to high usage of water, and transport- related emissions (UNEP, 2025). Businesses actively contribute to these issues by providing short-term discounts and pushy offers, which create a sense of urgency and lead to impulsive purchases (Thomas & Peters, 2011). As Kadioglu and Ozturk (2022) describe it, Black Friday's promotion and deals might result in “uncontrolled shopping and unconscious consumption”. The raised concerns about overconsumption associated with Black Friday have led to the development of a significant opposing trend. In an effort to prevent unnecessary consumption, rather than increase demand, some brands have begun to actively resist Black Friday promotion and have adopted a demarketing approach (Reich & Soule, 2016). One such example is the Patagonia campaign, "Don't buy this jacket", which was released during Black Friday 2011 and openly asked customers to consider how their purchases would affect the environment (Kadioglu & Ozturk, 2022). This strategy is a part of a broader green marketing strategy that uses anti-consumption as a technique to establish a brand identity rooted in sustainability that prioritizes long- term brand values over immediate short-term sales. As consumers become more conscious and critical of their consumption choices, demarketing strategies have the potential to serve as a powerful tool for brands, aiming to foster long-term engagement rather than quick sales development and create identities grounded in sustainability. However, the research on demarketing is still relatively limited, and its effectiveness remains unclear and seems to be context dependent. For example, Reich & Soule (2015) show that demarketing is perceived as altruistic by consumers when conducted by brands with strong environmental reputations, but as exploitative when done by brands with poor reputations, such as fast fashion brands. Additionally, the same authors show how consumers' attitudes towards green ads are more favorable than for green demarketing due to consumers finding companies discouraging consumption contradictory (Reich & Soule, 2016). 6 Furthermore, even if consumers hold green values themselves, and support the demarketing strategies taken by the brands, it does not mean that they would behave according to their beliefs or uphold the same standards. Several studies have looked into this inconsistency in environmentally aware consumers, showing that unsustainable behavior does not always result in sustainable behaviour. These studies build on the cognitive dissonance theory, which suggest that individuals experience psychological discomfort when their actions are in conflict with their values. To resolve this discomfort, individuals may try to justify or rationalize their behaviour (Festinger, 1957). For example, consumers may continue to fly or buy fast fashion while knowing its environmentally harmful and try to justify these decisions by downplaying the impact of it or committing to making sustainable behaviours in the future (McDonald et al, 2015; Cairns, Ritch & Bereziat, 2021). As Black Friday presents an opportunity for the consumers to make purchases at generously discounted prices, many consumers may experience a conflict between wanting to take advantage of the deals and still consume in a sustainable manner. 1.2 Problem Discussion Traditional marketing has always concentrated on increasing sales volume and generating demand, today’s environmental concerns require a reevaluation of these patterns. There needs to be a change in the way marketing is utilized as a tool to push consumption to become a promoter of environmental and societal well-being, where financial maximization is not the main goal but is rather focused on long term value creation and human life quality (Varey, 2010). However, a common problem for many brands is how to achieve sustainable consumption without sacrificing their brand image or client base (Reich & Soule, 2015). Demarketing strategies could serve as a solution as it discourages mass consumption while enhancing a brand's stand in today’s market, where sustainability is becoming more in focus (Kotler, 2011). Although the growing recognition and attention surrounding the environmental impact of Black Friday and an increased amount of companies explicitly communicating and distancing themselves from the event, there is currently limited academic research looking at how consumers view these strategies, how they affect consumers' brand perception and their intention to consume during the event. Companies using these demarketing strategies during Black Friday aim to position themselves as responsible brands (Kadioglu & Ozturk, 2022). At the same time, recent studies show that the use 7 of demarketing strategies could enhance but also diminish brand credibility depending on the consumers own perceptions of the brands motives (Reich & Soule, 2015; Reich & Soule, 2016; Yoon et al 2025). Furthermore, as research shows that consumers do not always act in accordance with their stated green values (McDonald et al, 2015; Cairns, Ritch & Bereziat, 2021). Even if consumers appreciate the demarketing strategies, they might not have much impact on their actual consumer behavior. Especially in a consumer society where consumption is closely connected to identity and self-expression (Ekström et al, 2017). Moreover, the consumers' demographic and personal factors, like gender, age, financial stability, and level of interest in sustainability, play a huge factor on how consumers respond to the sustainability-focused marketing strategies (Shao et al. 2023). This underlines the importance of understanding the context in which demarketing messages most effectively reach consumers. While there is a growing amount of quantitative research examining consumer responses to demarketing strategies, few studies examine these responses in the specific context of Black Friday, and even fewer use a qualitative approach. Moreover, neither of the existing studies uses cognitive dissonance theory to analyze consumer responses to demarketing during the event. In other words, we have identified a lack of studies exploring the more deeply rooted reasons why and how consumers’ perceptions of brands or their shopping habits are altered when the brands choose to express their disapproval and distancing from Black Friday. Do consumers actually feel that demarketing messages influence their shopping habits to become more mindful, or is this desired effect not actually achieved, and in that case, how come? - A research gap that this study aims to fill. 1.3 Purpose and Research Question The purpose of this study is to explore how consumers respond to the brands that employ Black Friday demarketing strategies. In this sense, we refer to responses as both how consumers perceive the campaigns and their effect on their consumption during the event. Additionally, we aim to explore underlying factors that could affect consumers' perception of this matter. 8 By looking at various viewpoints through a qualitative approach, this thesis aims to improve scientific knowledge of consumer behavior and sustainable brand marketing tactics in the context of demarketing strategies related to Black Friday. Based on the purpose, the following research question is relevant: - How do consumers respond to demarketing campaigns during Black Friday? 1.4 Delimitations The scope of this study was limited to include perceptions of Swedish consumers from generation Y and Z who were familiar with demarketing campaigns during Black Friday. The delimitation to only include demarketing messages during Black Friday was made to examine the demarketing concept in a new specific context. The choice of research methods was limited to only include a qualitative approach using semi- structured interviews. The brands mentioned in the interviews were limited to those that respondents had seen employing demarketing strategies during Black Friday, as well as commonly known examples, as outlined in the interview guide. These boundaries were drawn to ensure that the research was focused and achievable within the given time frame. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Demarketing & the Emergence of Green Demarketing The term demarketing was first coined by Kotler and Levy in 1971 and was introduced as a concept for companies to tackle periods of product shortages or scarcity to which the marketers had to respond. Kotler and Levy defined it as “that aspect of marketing that deals with discouraging customers in general or a certain class of customers in particular on a temporary or permanent basis” (Kotler & Levy, 1971). The authors describe three types of demarketing: General demarketing, Selective demarketing, and Ostensible demarketing. General demarketing is the general term for companies using marketing to shrink total demand; this is due to temporary shortages, chronic over-demand, or elimination of products. 9 Selective demarketing is used when companies want to discourage demand from certain customer segments. This might be because these segments are viewed as less profitable or causing damage to the brand reputation or the more favourable segments demand. Ostensible demarketing is a strategy to discourage consumption of the company’s products to achieve the opposite reaction. This approach builds on the psychology that people want things that are hard to get and the brand by this approach wants to enhance product appeal or a sense of exclusivity (Kotler & Levy, 1971). With the emerging understanding of how contemporary consumption levels contribute to environmental degradation, the concept of demarketing has developed beyond capacity constraints to include sustainability. Kotler himself, in his article from 2011, questions the contemporary capitalistic system where businesses are driven by constantly increasing sales and suggests that companies may need to accept a more modest growth where economic growth is balanced within ecological limits. Further he suggests that demarketing can be used as a strategic tool for companies to run their businesses within these ecological limits as it can be used to reduce demand on environmentally harmful products or scarce biological resources (Kotler, 2011). This shift can be seen as a form of corporate altruism, in which firms consciously choose long-term ecological and societal well-being over immediate financial gain or market expansion. Supporting this claim, Lawrence and Mekoth (2023) in their demarketing literature review argue that the traditional definition of demarketing is insufficient as it ignores the broader role demarketing could play in addressing environmental, social and economic sustainability. They suggest a revised definition of demarketing based on the Triple Bottom Line Framework, which is a sustainability model that integrates social, ecological and financial dimensions of business performance. This concept goes beyond demand reduction to actively contribute to long-term sustainable development across these multiple dimensions. Reich and Soule (2015) define this extension of demarketing as green demarketing, where a company, through its marketing, aims to reduce consumption by encouraging “sufficient” consumption of its own products, due to environmental concerns. 10 2.2 CSR and Consumer Perceptions Besides companies recognizing their environmental obligations to society, Kotler also predicted that companies increasingly would need to meet the rising sustainability demands of their consumers (Kotler, 2011). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to “the managerial obligation to take action to protect and improve both the welfare of society as a whole and the interests of the organization” (Sen & Bhattacharya, 2001). In more common terms, CSR can be described as how a company takes social, ecological and financial responsibility (FN, 2016). As Kotler suggested, previous studies have shown how CSR can benefit a brand in several ways, such as through enhanced consumer product evaluations (Brown & Dacin, 1997), satisfaction (Luo & Bhattacharya, 2006), and trust (Vlachos et al, 2009). As brands use demarketing strategies as a part of their CSR efforts, discouraging excessive shopping and unnecessary shopping, in favor for the societal and environmental well-being (Kadioglu & Ozturk, 2022), one might suggest that the use of demarketing strategies would contribute to the positive outcomes associated with CSR efforts on consumer perceptions listed above. Nevertheless, research shows that is not always the case. Having a consistent voice in integrated marketing communications (IMC) is crucial for building trust and brand legitimacy (Kotler, 1991; Yoon et al., 2025). A very recent study by Yoon et al. (2025) investigates how consumers' corporate social responsibility orientation (CSRO) affects their view of green demarketing campaigns. Consumers with high CSRO value companies CSR practices highly and believe that corporations play a crucial part in solving social problems and going beyond profit orientation (Carroll 1979), compared to consumers with low CSRO that assume that companies act for profit, not for societal good. The study builds upon the belief congruence theory (Rokeach, 1960) which implies that individuals view belief systems, individuals and stimuli in a more positive way if it aligns with their own belief systems. The study showed that consumers with high CSRO expect IMC to be congruent. That when demarketing publicity (deserved media) is aligned with demarketing advertising (paid media) consumers with high CSRO will perceive the brand as more honest. While consumers with low CSRO will perceive the mix of demarketing publicity and an incongruent for-profit green ad as more honest as 11 this aligns more with their belief system. Importantly, the study also showed how the perceived brand honesty increased the consumers purchase intention. Another study within a similar theme was done by Reich and Soule (2015) that show how consumers perceive brands engaging in demarketing activities as more altruistic when the brands have an exceptional environmental reputation compared to brands with poor reputation that are perceived as having exploitative motives. Studies by the same authors have found that consumers were more approving of ordinary green marketing advertisements than demarketing advertisements (Reich & Soule, 2016). Both articles are built on the attribute theory, where the latter is explained by the fact that consumers perceive inconsistency between the product advertising and green demarketing, as ads are associated with encouraging consumption (Reich & Soule; 2015; 2016). An additional study found that demarketing messages worked better than ordinary green marketing when the brand had a luxury market position compared to a mass market position, as consumers believe that the demarketing ads match the luxury brand positioning (Vilasanti da Luz et al, 2020). To summarize, prior research suggests that demarketing messages has the potential to increase brand trust and legitimacy, but its efficiency seems to be context dependent, as brand consistency, consumer values, reputation and market position affects how it is perceived. 2.3 Thinking Green but Acting Otherwise - Cognitive Dissonance Additionally, even though environmental awareness and interest in brands taking environmental responsibility have risen among consumers, there is still a lot of research that shows that green consumers do not always act as they intend, or according to their values. This contradictory mismatch has been described as an attitude-behavioral gap (Cairns, Ritch & Bereziat, 2021). This attitude-behavioral gap has been widely studied in consumer green behavior, where consumers’ green attitudes conflict with their actions. For example, McDonald et al. (2015) studied how consumers with green values (attitude) justify their continuous action of flying (action). Acting against one’s values creates psychological discomfort, or an inconsistent feeling. This feeling can be explained by Cognitive dissonance theory. As this discomfort occurs, individuals are driven to reduce their state of distress and regain internal stability. 12 However, McDonald et al. (2015) revealed that this does not necessarily convert into behavioral change, instead consumers typically use cognitive methods to rationalize their behaviors in a way that makes them feel less guilty about their actions. McDonald et al. (2015) suggested that consumers may take different angels to justify the importance of the action they took. Some might downplay the actions' negative effects on the environment, others might make a commitment to take more environmentally friendly behaviors in the future instead of giving up travel entirely. As a result, rather than changing the unsustainable behavior, consumers usually reduce dissonance by changing their cognitive assessment of their actions, which enables them to keep a self-image that aligns with their beliefs (Markauskaitė & Rūtelionė, 2022). Consumers who choose to disconnect from their own beliefs in order to deal with the guilt of not acting in an environmentally friendly way find a coping mechanism that helps themselves to accept non-moral behavior. Based on Sharma and Paço (2021) findings, consumers may have difficulties pursuing environmentally friendly products, such as high price or limited availability, and deal with the guilt by disengaging from the issue ethically, which justifies their non-green choices and makes them feel "guilt- free" about their actions. This suggests that, when sustainable choices seem difficult or inconvenient, consumers often ignore these green, sustainable choices by rationalizing that their personal situation excuses them, thereby reducing cognitive discomfort. The moral disconnection becomes a way for the consumers to reduce their dissonance, allowing for a continuance of unsustainable behaviors without being critical of themselves or their choices. The cognitive dissonance rising from the attitude-behavioral gap in green consumption also appears in many other consumption areas. Celik and Ekici (2024) explored how sustainable fashion consumers handle the cognitive dissonance that arises when buying fast fashion, i.e. acting against their own ethical values. While the well-known dissonance reducing strategies are cognitive, the authors uncovered a new practice- based strategy for reducing dissonance they call “alternating moral practices”. Instead of only justifying their behavior in thought, the respondents actively engage in 13 compensatory ethical behavior to make up for their prior moral transgression, for example by using fast fashion garments for a long time. Celik and Ekici (2024), builds on Foucault’s concept of ethical subjectivity where, instead of viewing morals and values as fixed, consumers actively reshape and work on themselves to live in line with their values. The authors suggest that when consumers break their own ethical rules, they do not only try to overlook it. Instead, they change their behavior and strengthen their ethical identity. Which indicates that sustainable fashion consumers who act against their values do not always become less committed, rather it can lead to new sustainable practices and broaden their moral engagement. Similarly, a qualitative study by Cairns, Ritch and Bereziat (2021) on millennial fashion consumers showed that purchasing fast fashion caused them to feel guilty and irritated, which are clear signs of cognitive dissonance. Yet, rather than rationalizing and justifying their purchases, these customers applied the discomfort to strengthen their intentions to be more environmentally conscious going forward. Just as in Celik and Ekici study (2024), cognitive dissonance in this case did not result in denial or justification. Instead, participants recognized the contradiction and reinforced their dedication to pursue sustainable consumption. 2.4 Black Friday Black Friday had its breakthrough in Sweden in 2017 when the event amounted to shopping for 5.3 billion kronor (Tisell, 2021). The event that originally consisted of just one day of significant price drops has expanded to become a period of a week, the Black Week. Svensk Handel forecasted that the Black Week in 2024 to incur sales of 9.7 billion, an increase from 8.7 billion from 2023 (Svensk Handel, 2024). Black Friday, which takes place every third Friday in November, is said to mark the start of the Christmas shopping season and has therefore become one of the most important sales opportunities in retail (Tisell, 2021). Generally, there is a lack of academic research on consumer behavior related to Black Friday in Sweden. This could be explained by the fact that it is a relatively new market concept in Sweden, compared to the USA where the term was coined already back in 1965 (Boyd Thomas & Peters, 2011). Customer surveys from Svensk Handel reveal that there has been a significant increase in the share of consumers who plan to shop during Black Week from 2023 to 2024. During the financially strained years of 2022- 14 23, marked by significantly high inflation and policy rate, the numbers were record low to reach an almost record high in 2024. Additionally, the interest of Black Friday has risen in all age groups. Even though, as mentioned, environmental awareness has risen among consumers, when it comes to reasons why consumers choose not to shop on Black Friday, the environmental reasons have decreased in importance from 2023 to 2024 (Svensk Handel, 2024). One has to search abroad to find studies on psychological and behavioral factors that might influence consumers' behavior during Black Friday. For instance, Kwon and Brinthaupt (2015) found in their study of American consumers that Black Friday shoppers had stronger hedonic shopping motives than non-Black Friday shoppers. Additionally, the Black Friday shopper seems to be especially attracted to pleasurable feelings arising from shopping experiences compared to non-Black Friday shoppers who associate the event with stress. Another study on American consumers' behaviors related to Black Friday found that the event has gotten more of a ritualistic characteristic. The ritual has similarities to a “military mission”, including several steps, such as gathering the family and together planning the most efficient route to purchase the most favorable discounted products. The mission is seen as accomplished when after as quickly as possible, finding and buying the very sought-after goods, successfully taking advantage of the deep discounts (Boyd Thomas & Peters, 2011). 2.5 Demarketing Strategies Related to Black Friday Some brands use demarketing strategies during Black Friday as a part of their CSR efforts, where they discourage the excessive shopping and unnecessary shopping associated with the event. Through this way, the brands emphasize their position as brands that take responsibility for sustainability (Kadioglu & Ozturk, 2022). The way companies conduct these campaigns can take different forms. Aside from not providing discounts, which is the most obvious way of taking a stand against the event, companies accompany this with other actions that discourage overconsumption. One great example is Haglöfs, a brand that, through the years, has communicated its aversion to Black Friday in many different ways. For example, the company doubled the prices on newly produced products, promoted second-hand options instead, and gave all profits to charities. Another strategy the company used was closing down all its stores 15 during Black Friday (Haglöfs, 2023). This mindful consumption approach is adopted by many other companies like Naturkompaniet, which instead provides free waxing of hiking boots (Naturkompaniet, n.d). To summarize, prior research suggests that brand trust, legitimacy, and consumer beliefs are crucial in shaping consumer perceptions of brands using demarketing campaigns or other CSR-related strategies. Morhart et al. (2015) brand authenticity concept covers these aspects and provides a theoretical framework for understanding the perceived authenticity of these strategies. In addition, earlier studies on green consumption shed light on the common conflict of consumers wanting to consume sustainably but still contributing to unsustainable consumption patterns. As Black Friday encourages consumption through irresistible and generous deals, we propose that demarketing campaigns can create the same internal conflicts among consumers as described by prior studies. This makes the cognitive dissonance theory a relevant framework for our analysis. 3. Theoretical Framework 3.1 Brand Authenticity The brand authenticity concept has developed as a result of today's competitive marketplace. Its emergence has been an influential factor on consumers' perception and behavior. As today's consumers want the brands to be transparent and ethical in their practices, authenticity has become a prominent factor in forming the consumer's loyalty and trust for the brands (Morhart et al. 2015). According to Morhart et al. (2015), brand authenticity can be described as the level to which a brand is perceived as true to its core values and its customers. Authenticity has a huge effect on how consumers perceive the brands' practices. According to Schallehn et al. (2014), a higher brand authenticity impacts the brand trust positively. It can also increase the consumer's emotional connection to the brand and promote positive word of mouth (Morhart et al. 2015). In essence, customers respond positively to brands that they believe to be authentic. These brands are more likely to be trusted and even promoted because customers feel they are honest regarding their commitments and values (Morhart et al. 2015). 16 Morhart et al. (2015) introduced four key dimensions of perceived brand authenticity: continuity, credibility, integrity, and symbolism. These dimensions highlight the core elements of brand authenticity. Continuity refers to a brand's ability to stay committed to its heritage and core principles even when adapting to modern demands and the market. Credibility has been defined by Morhart et al. (2015) as the trust level that customers have in the ability of the brand to fulfil their promises and exceed their expectations. Integrity, on the other hand, refers to the brand's ethical and moral considerations and its ability to follow the stated values. Finally, Symbolism is about the symbolic quality of the brands that the customers can relate to and define themselves with. The more of these dimensions that are fulfilled, the more authentic the brand is perceived (Morhart et al. 2015). 3.1.1 Brand Authenticity Linked to Demarketing Strategies and Black Friday When examining demarketing strategies during high consumption events like Black Friday, brand authenticity becomes primarily relevant as it reflects upon the perceived authenticity of these strategies. While demarketing refers to the strategies of intentionally promoting sustainable consumption patterns to avoid contributing to overconsumption during high-demand events like Black Friday. The brands that willingly participate in such strategies, promoting sustainable consumption and reducing consumers' demand in order to achieve long-term sustainability. These brands might be considered to be more authentic than other brands, if they were consistent and continued with their values (Morhart et al., 2015). Outdoor brands like Patagonia and Haglöfs are two examples of brands that have been implementing these strategies and connecting them with their own core values (Haglöfs, 2023; Patagonia Stories, 2011). As these brands are known for their environmental participation and sustainability focus, participating in promoting Black Friday discounts would have been out of character given their established brand ethics and image. 17 Consumers' perception and views of these brands can be influenced by these demarketing strategies, but in order for these strategies to be successful a few key factors should be fulfilled, like the brand being consistent with stated values and followed actions, but also how sincere the motives are behind these strategies. The more of these dimensions that are fulfilled, the higher is the brand's perceived authenticity (Morhart et al. 2015). Brands that have a reputation of being sustainably focused and choose to avoid engaging in Black Friday offers, demonstrate integrity and continuity, as they are being loyal to their values and long-term identity despite the high-pressure to be focused on short-term revenue under events like Black Friday. When brands signal a genuineness in concern for the greater good, consumers who share the same ideals and values will have a higher symbolic connection with these brands, especially when the brand's actions are in line with its stated beliefs (Morhart et al. 2015). Yet the perceived genuineness and sincerity behind the demarketing strategies still play a huge part in the effectiveness of these strategies (Morhart et al. 2015). In line with Morharts et al. (2015) findings, the consumers might develop skeptical feelings and doubts about the brand's credibility if they believed that the demarketing strategies were inconsistent with the brand's previous practices and history. As a result, the brand may be accused of implementing greenwashing practices and exaggerating the supposed ethical and green image of the brand, misleading the true reality of the brand's actual actions (Santos, Coelho, and Marques, 2023). The perceived authenticity of a brand is influenced by its credibility and trustworthiness, so this dimension would be negatively impacted by such charges and associations. When the demarketing approach is integrated into a brand's existing image (continuity) and ethical position (integrity), it enhances the brand's authenticity. While if the activity is perceived as dishonest, it may damage the brand's perceived authenticity (Morhart et al. 2015). 3.2 Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive dissonance theory is a psychological concept first introduced by Leon Festinger (1957) and refers to the psychological discomfort that occurs when a person is holding at least two conflicting cognitions. Cognitions are pieces of knowledge that 18 encompass an individual's beliefs, attitudes or behaviors about what is true or appropriate. Two cognitions are consonant if they align and are dissonant if they are inconsistent or contradict each other. Festinger’s theory builds upon the fact that people strive toward being consistent with themselves, and an individual’s opinions and attitudes often fall into internally consistent clusters. Therefore, people experience psychological discomfort when there are inconsistencies between two cognitions, what Festinger calls dissonance. This involves both cognitive cognitions, which are a person's beliefs, values, expectations, or factual knowledge, and behavioral cognitions, which involve information about one’s past or current behavior. By human instinct, just as hunger drives us to eat, people naturally feel motivated to reduce dissonance (Festinger, 1962). However, reduction is not always possible (Festinger, 1957). One common reason why dissonance occurs is that a person almost never has perfect information. So, when a person is approached with new information or a new event, a momentary dissonance with existing knowledge, opinion, or cognition concerning a condition can occur. Another common reason, mostly relevant for this research, is the fact that little in life is black or white or has clear-cut answers. Some dissonance is nearly unavoidable when taking a decision or forming an opinion, as almost all opinions or behaviors are to some extent a mixture of contradictions (Festinger, 1957). In general terms, if there is dissonance between two cognitions, this dissonance can be eliminated by altering one of them. There are several approaches to do this, depending on what type of cognitive elements that are involved and how they relate to the rest of what the person believes and values. There are 4 common ways to decrease psychological discomfort (Festinger, 1957; Festinger, 1962; Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2018). 1. Change an opinion The most direct way to reduce dissonance when a behavior can’t be changed is to change the opinion. This often happens post-decision, when a person tries to justify that their choice was better than the other alternatives (Festinger, 1962). For example, a smoker could change his cognitions about the health effects of smoking by believing that smoking does not have any negative impact on health (Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2018). 2. Change a behavior 19 The most effective way to reduce dissonance is to change one of the behaviors that causes the dissonance that conflicts with one’s belief and through this change the knowledge about it. In this case the smoker might resolve the dissonance by quitting smoking (Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2018). Nonetheless, this strategy is less occurring than changing opinions as behaviors can both be hard to change or reverse (Festinger, 1957). 3. Distort perception/reinterpret information Sometimes it is not possible to change a behavior or belief, making it impossible to fully eliminate the dissonance. However, it can be reduced by reinterpreting the information given. This might include that a person can actively focus on information that supports one perception and avoid information that speaks for the other or minimizes the importance of the rejected choices' good qualities or the chosen choice’s flaws (Festinger, 1957; Festinger, 1962). For example, the smoker could compare the death rates of car accidents with the death rates of smoking, making smoking negligible compared to the risks of driving. The smoker is not adding new beliefs but rather reinterpreting the existing one (Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2018). 4. Add new consonant cognitions Another way to reduce dissonance is by adding new thoughts or justifications that support the behavior (Festinger, 1957). Here the smoker may justify the smoking by believing that it reduces stress and helps him from gaining weight (Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2018). Much of our behavior has little or no resistance to change and modifying or adjusting our behavior is a part of our everyday life. If the resistance to change is low, the dissonance encountered will not be long-lasting. Yet, Festinger (1957) points out some circumstances where it can be difficult for a person to change her actions, and followingly the dissonance can be more persistent: 1. The change may be painful or involve loss. For example, if a person has spent a lot of money to make a certain decision and realizes that the decision was not the best, it may therefore be hard to accept. 2. The present behavior may be otherwise satisfying (Festinger, 1957). For example, a person may have bought a shirt manufactured by child labor but really enjoys the design of the shirt. 20 3. Making the change may not simply be possible, for example if the action has already been carried out or if a person does not have the resources to alter behavior (Festinger, 1957). 3.2.1 New Revisions of the Cognitive Dissonance Theory The theory of cognitive dissonance is almost 70 years old and has been one of the most substantial concepts in social psychology (Jones, 1985). It has generated a vast number of studies where new perspectives and revisions of the concept have been proposed. The revisions differ mainly in their view of what they propose to be the underlying motivation for the dissonance (Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2018). For example, self- consistency theory (Aronson (1968; 1992) suggests that a person experiences dissonance when they experience inconsistency between the self-concept and the behavior, primarily when they behave in a way they find incompetent or immoral. Self- consistency theory places more emphasis on internal coherence and being true to oneself. In contrast, according to the self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988; Steele, Spencer & Lynch, 1993), dissonance occurs when a person's positive self-image is threatened. Here the person tries to justify the behavior by emphasizing other actions she has done ethically correct, to preserve her sense of self-worth. This is especially common among people with lower self-esteem. Lastly, the new look version of dissonance proposes that the feeling of dissonance occurs because a person feels personally responsible for causing something negative to happen (Cooper & Fazio, 1984; Scher & Cooper, 1989). 3.2.1 Cognitive Dissonance Linked to Demarketing Strategies and Black Friday With the increased environmental awareness among consumers, events like Black Friday that are characterized by high consumption imply that it should be associated with conflicting consumer attitudes. As Black Friday generous discounts may tempt consumers to buy more than they normally would and make large savings, environmentally aware consumers might experience cognitive dissonance when participating in Black Friday shopping as their behavior conflicts with their environmental values. The other way around, choosing not to make purchases during Black Friday might also make consumers experience dissonance as they miss out on deals, as prior research suggests that cognitive dissonance often occurs when sustainable choices are expensive or inconvenient (Sharma and Paço, 2021). Studying this through the lens of cognitive dissonance could be particularly relevant when 21 consumers encounter brands that distance themselves from Black Friday through demarketing strategies with the aim to reduce overconsumption and contribute to long- term sustainable development. For example, a brand using demarketing during Black Friday may reduce dissonance for consumers who already value sustainability, validating and supporting the consumers' stand against the event. Contrarily, it may evoke dissonance in consumers that appreciate the brand’s ethical stand but still want to take part in the Black Friday deals. Here the consumers might use the various cognitive dissonance reducing strategies to reduce their inner conflict, such as altering their behavior, altering opinions or reinterpreting the information provided to support their behavior (Festinger, 1957; Festinger, 1962; Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2018). To summarize, cognitive dissonance theory can offer an understanding of the internal consumer conflict a consumer may face when encountering demarketing messages during Black Friday and how consumers resolve this conflict for themselves. 4. Methodology This section will highlight the methodology aspects for this study. How we have approached the study to answer its research question, and the basis for why we have chosen to conduct the study using a qualitative method, as well as the research and analysis process. 4.1 Choice of Method At the beginning of planning this thesis, we considered using a quantitative approach, creating a survey that would be sent to a broad range of consumers, in order to analyse their perspective on demarketing strategies. However, as we went deeper into the research, we could narrow down the scope of our research and purpose and found that a qualitative approach would be more appropriate. This is because our research question requires us to analyse the consumers' opinions and feelings, something that a qualitative approach which emphasizes words over statistics in its data collection and analysis is more suited for (Bell, E. et al. 2019). Qualitative research can also create a deeper understanding and knowledge than typically achieved using a quantitative approach (Patel & Davidson, 2019). 22 As mentioned before, understanding the context and conditions of the consumers has been critical to our study. Flick (2018) explains that qualitative research is especially relevant for studying social relations, but also subcultures, lifestyles, and ways of living. On this basis, a qualitative research method, using semi-structured interviews, seemed to be the most suitable for our research question. These semi-structured interviews provided a space for the participants to express their opinions freely, while allowing us to guide the interview based on our key questions, enabling more flexibility and in- depth data collection. This thesis will go in depth to explore how the consumer perceives and views a brand that uses demarketing strategies during Black Friday, and how they perceive the effect of the demarketing messages on their purchasing during the event. Therefore, a qualitative research analysis was necessary, as our subject and research question require an in-depth analysis of the consumer's subjective experiences (Esaiasson et al. 2017). This aligns with the explorative element in our research question (Bell, E. et al. 2019). As demarketing strategies in the context of Black Friday are still a new phenomenon both in Sweden and globally, and have not been widely researched, particularly from a consumer perspective, a qualitative approach is considered to be the best route. It allows us to explore the consumer's opinions and experience, while generating more knowledge and insight to this developing phenomenon. 4.1.2 Abductive Approach This study has taken an abductive approach. Unlike a deductive approach, where the process of gathering data is based on existing theories from which hypotheses are formed, or an inductive approach, where theory is the outcome of the gathered data, the abductive approach is supposed to fill in the shortcomings of the deductive and inductive approaches (Bell et al. 2019). In deductive reasoning, one main problem is the difficulty of choosing the most suitable theory as it must be decided on beforehand, which may limit the area for interpretation. Inductive reasoning, on the other hand, does not necessarily lead to new theory building, even with a large amount of empirical data. Bell et al. (2019) describes the starting point of abduction as an empirical puzzle that prior research cannot explain. The abductive 23 approach then seeks to explain what conditions that can make the puzzle less puzzling, trying to find the most likely explanation for it. This involves a back-and-forth interaction between empirical evidence and theory staying flexible and open through the process. As there is some but limited amount of research on how consumers respond to brands using demarketing strategies on Black Friday, the abductive approach was considered appropriate. To find theories that might be suitable for our investigation, we started by reading relevant literature, while keeping an open mind for new findings from the data. 4.2 Research Process and Interview Guide Design 4.2.1 Literature Search The sources used were primarily e-articles and books. E-articles were retrieved from the Gothenburg University library search engine, Scopus, and Web of Science. As Patel and Davidson (2019) suggests, key words were used in the search process to find relevant articles. The key words used were “demarketing”, “Black Friday”, “anti- consumption”, “green demarketing”, “CSR”, “sustainability”, “sufficiency” “Brand Authenticity", ”Cognitive Dissonance” and “anti-consumption”. 4.2.2 Research Process We conducted the study using a qualitative approach, based on previous research, literature review, and semi-structured interviews to support our research question. Before we started, it was important to make ourselves familiar with the available literature and research published about our research area. This is to understand what information is available, but also in order to find a gap in the research that allows for further studies. With the use of relevant keywords we were able to conduct a broad overview of the available relevant research. While reviewing relevant articles, a gap in the research was identified, which has allowed us to form an initial research purpose and research questions. The design of the interview guide was based on the insight from the primary literature research, the initial purpose, and the research questions. The interview guide was designed to align with the purpose of this study but also to allow for flexibility in responses. After conducting the interviews and transcribing and analysing our primary 24 data through thematic analysis, we could define the recurring patterns and themes in the data. The data analysis helped to establish the empirical analysis and led to adjustments in the research purpose and questions along the process. Furthermore, the themes that emerged from the thematic analysis guided the determination of which theories were most relevant to the analysis. 4.2.3 Type of Data (Primary/Secondary) This study has used both primary and secondary data collection, which has allowed us to expand our understanding of the views on demarketing strategies and enabled us to answer the research questions. The primary data is the data directly collected from people, in this case, the transcribed data that was collected through the 12 semi- structured interviews with Swedish consumers (Jacobsen, 2002). These interviews enabled us to gain insight into the participants' reflections and experience, which, according to Patel and Davidson (2019), can be described as empirical data. When it comes to the secondary data, it mainly consisted of literature reviews and available relevant research, to Black Friday, demarketing strategies, brand authenticity and cognitive dissonance. This literature served as the foundation for theoretical framework and was also utilized to construct the interview guide (Bell et al. 2019). Secondary data was also utilized to point out research gaps and to demonstrate the significance of our research. Additionally, other types of secondary data have been used, such as Statistical reports regarding Black Friday sales from “Svensk Handel” and “NFR”, but also official brand websites. For example, Haglöfs and Naturkompaniet official websites were used in order to collect concrete examples about how these brands communicate their demarketing strategies. 4.3 Data Collection 4.3.1 Interview Guide As this study has its foundation in qualitative research, a semi-structured interview guide was used. Semi structured interviews create structure while giving the respondents the flexibility in answering. This creates space for follow up questions that seems more suitable for the direction the interview is going in, which gives us an idea of what the respondent finds relevant (Patel & Davidson, 2019). 25 The interview guide was constructed based on our research purpose and questions, in order to create a connection between the respondents' answers and our research questions (Patel & Davidson, 2019). The questions were formed in a way that made them easy for all respondents to understand, without any academic words, or long questions that might confuse the respondents. With the recommendations of Patel and Davidson (2019), leading questions were also avoided to encourage the respondents to share their own reflections and experiences. The interview guide started with a short presentation of ourselves as the interviewers and the purpose of our research, followed by a concrete example of demarketing strategies from different companies, like Haglöfs and Naturkompaniet. This was done to give the respondents an idea of different demarketing strategies associated with Black Friday (Patel & Davidson, 2019). The interview guide started with ground tour questions, which are defined as being open and broad in scope, giving the respondents a space to answer the question from their own experience and perception (Esaiasson et al. 2017). We followed up with multiple follow-up questions to narrow down the broad aspect of the answers and adapted the questions to each respondent's understanding (Esaiasson et al. 2017). 4.3.2 Pilot Interview To test the interview guide and recording equipment, a pilot interview was conducted. This interview gave us some valuable insights as the test interviewee had not heard about the demarketing concept before, which made the discussion hypothetical and not very fluent. As for this fact, the respondent criteria was adjusted to include only consumers who were familiar with the concept. The results of the pilot interview were excluded from the analysis and empirical findings, as it was used primarily to test the clarity and flow of the interview questions. This gave us an insight into how to conduct the interviews and make the discussion flow. 4.3.3 Interview Process To answer the research questions, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with customers in the Swedish market. The respondents were asked in advance whether they 26 were familiar with the demarketing concepts. Based on their answers, we decided to only include the ones who were familiar with the concept, to ensure that the interviews would be fluent and informative. The respondents were also contacted to provide information of the aim of the study and to schedule a date for the interviews. Most of the interviews were conducted online via a Teams link, due to the availability and convenience of the respondents. This approach enabled us to reach people from multiple geographical locations, expanding the scope of the participants. Additionally, all interviews were conducted in Swedish, as preferred by the respondents, and were later translated into English for analysis. In the beginning of the interview, the interviewer presented the purpose of the study and the study question, as well as showing some examples of demarketing strategies, in order to contextualize the discussion. The respondents were informed about recording and transcription of the interviews, and their consent was obtained before proceeding further. Most of the interviews lasted between 20-45 minutes and they were conducted in a quiet location in order to fully capture the respondents’ reactions and responses without disturbance (Patel & Davidson, 2019). Afterwards, all the interviews were transcribed for later analysis, to ensure accuracy. Yet the transcription of the answers might represent a challenge, as the interviews were held in Swedish. It can be difficult to translate and transcribe spoken words, as nuances can be lost or misinterpreted. Therefore, it was important that we remained aware of this challenge and carefully handled data material as it could have influenced the result of the analysis (Patel & Davidson, 2019). 4.4 Respondent Criteria To gather varied perceptions and views on how consumers respond to demarketing strategies, the aim was to interview as many different people with different views and characteristics as possible. The sample consisted of 12 participants, 6 female and 6 males, in order to capture a wider view and a chance to compare the different points of view, but also to avoid any bias due to gender imbalance. We chose to focus mainly on young generation groups, mainly generation Z, born between 1997–2012, and generation Y/Millennials, born between 1981-1996 (Dimock, 2019). These groups account for a significant component of today’s consumption culture and also have a high sustainable awareness. 27 The goal was to conduct the interviews with an equal number of the respondents from each generation group, but due to the limited time constraint and limited number of generation Y that were familiar with the concept, we ended up with a sample of 9 generation Z and 3 generation Y. With the recommendation of Esaiasson et al. (2017), the interviewees were not from our immediate circle of friends to avoid any conflict of interest. After interview 12, a comprehensive image was reached, and any further data would not likely add any further significant insights to the subject. The people participating were also subjective experts on the subject, meaning that while they had encountered demarketing strategies on Black Friday before, and knew what demarketing was, they were not experts on the subject in an academic sense (Esaiasson et al., 2017). This was to ensure deeper discussion on the subject instead of creating a hypothetical scenario. This thesis was limited to the consumers in the Swedish markets, to preserve contextual consistency, but also to provide a perspective of the consumers of the Swedish markets. Despite our intention to include a broader range of the sample, the time limitation and restricted access to more people have limited us, which is a common challenge in qualitative studies (Esaiasson et al. 2017). Respondent Gender Age Occupation 1 Male 22 Student 2 Male 24 Student 3 Female 26 Student 4 Female 31 Employed 5 Female 22 Student 6 Male 26 Student 7 Male 31 Employed 8 Male 24 Employed 28 Respondent Gender Age Occupation 9 Male 20 Student 10 Female 20 Student 11 Female 29 Employed 12 Female 21 Student Tabell 1. 4.4.1 Purposive Sampling Given the outcome of the pilot interview, an adjustment to our recruitment approach was made to find participants that fit the purpose of the research questions. A purposive sampling method found to be the most suited method, as it enabled us to sample participants is a strategic way that fit our research criteria (Bell, E. et al. 2019). Participants had to be familiar with demarketing strategies, because we wanted the interviews to be based on actual experience rather than hypothetical scenarios. One of the researchers posted a poll vote on their Instagram story, asking the followers if they have seen companies using anti-black Friday messages during Black Friday or not. 106 people out of 212 people answered that they were familiar with the concept and 8 people were then retrieved from these 106. 8 of the 12 participants have been recruited this way. Including a criterion in the recruitment process, made the sampling approach become a non-probability sampling, which means that our finding could not be generalised to a larger population (Bell, E. et al. 2019). Nonetheless, it enabled us to gather relevant information, which improved the depth and validity of the data gathered. 4.5 Analysis Method The qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews generates a large amount of unstructured textual material and there is no predetermined and one-way-fits-all approach to analyse the findings or the gathered information. Yet, thematic analysis is a common approach used in qualitative research, as it offers a flexible and approachable way to analyse qualitative data (Bell, E. et al. 2019). Subsequently, this approach was used in this research. The thematic analysis includes several key steps to identify 29 patterns or useful themes to answer the research questions and focuses on describing the data in order for researchers to be able to interpret important aspects of the content relevant to the research (Hecker & Kalpokas, 2023) The first fundamental step started after the interviews and transcription of the data was done and is generally about becoming familiar with the data. Here the interviews were read through several times, in order to gain a deep understanding of what had been said (Hecker & Kalpokas, 2023). In the next step, initial codes were generated. These are labels of categorization of important characteristics in the data that may lay the basis for emerging themes (Hecker & Kalpokas, 2023). Some examples of our codes were “respect” and “financial restrictions”. When the data had been coded, we started to search for and categorize the data into different themes (Hecker & Kalpokas, 2023). Putting the data into themes has its ground in the repetitiveness of the data, and the differences and similarities of the answers (Bell, E. et al. 2019). As an abductive approach was used, the themes were derived from both theories from the theoretical framework and new theories that suited the findings, to bring more depth and explanation to the analysis of our findings. The themes were reviewed several times, to ensure they were distinct and meaningful in relationship to the other themes and the research question. When the reviewing of themes felt sufficient, the themes were named, giving them an as clear and informative name as possible. Finally, to provide answers to the research questions, the themes were analysed in relation to the existing theoretical framework and other theories that appeared to be relevant when themes emerged from the data. This step involves closely examining how the identified themes support, challenge or expand theoretical claims (Hecker & Kalpokas, 2023). The concept of Brand Authenticity was included in the theoretical framework beforehand, while Cognitive Dissonance appeared to be relevant when the data was analyzed. 4.6 Ethical Guidelines While conducting the study, many measures were taken to ensure that the study followed the ethical guidelines. 30 The participants in this study were informed of the purpose of this thesis and how the collected data would be used. As the respondents volunteered to participate in the study, their consent to participate was obtained before the interview. As mentioned before, all the interviews were recorded and transcribed afterwards, therefore, the respondents' consent for recording was obtained beforehand. The recordings were only listened to and accessed by us to ensure the confidentiality of the respondents. The names of the respondents were replaced with numbers when the recordings had been transcribed. This measure was taken in regard to confidentiality and anonymity of the respondents, in order to avoid the identification of the participants (Bell, E. et al. 2019). While other information, such as age, occupation, and other related information were included to ensure transparency. 4.7 Validity Because a major part of this study is based on the theoretical framework and literature review, applying a source criticism approach has been essential when selecting the literature and articles. All sources and literature have been thoroughly reviewed in line with Esaiasson et al. (2017) four source-critical criteria, which are authenticity, independence, bias (tendence), and contemporaneity. As authenticity refers to using original research work, all the sources used were ensured to be original, non-edited work. We focused on using primary sources, such as original books and peer-reviewed journal articles. Additionally, academic databases were used as the main search tool to find peer-reviewed research (Esaiasson et al. 2017). Regarding the contemporaneity of time, most of the research and articles used are from the last decades, which is in line with the development of sustainability and demarketing concepts. Yet to ensure authenticity, and in order to rely on the original source, older articles and publications have been included, when they have provided a relevant theoretical insight (Esaiasson et al. 2017). When it comes to independence, we have focused on using peer-reviewed articles. Also, the primary data of this study is collected through semi-structured interviews, conducted by us, allowing us to base our findings on original, first-hand data (Esaiasson et al. 2017). 31 In terms of bias, we made sure to uphold a balance in perspective and opinions. As academic research may contain some theoretical assumptions and the interviews may represent some of the personal beliefs, we made sure to critically evaluate both forms of data. When combining both the theoretical and empirical data sets in the analysis, we avoided one-sided interpretation which results in deeper, more nuanced results (Esaiasson et al. 2017). 4.8 Integration of AI Tools in the Research Process During the duration of this study, several AI tools and methods have been used in accordance with the university's Generative AI Guidance (2024). Generative AI has been utilized as an assistant and supportive tool during the research process. For example, at the beginning of planning this research AI was used to summarize several articles and literature reviews to evaluate its relevance for our study. Transcription tools, such as Capilo, were used in order to transcribe the respondents' interview recordings, although further editing and correcting were needed to establish good transcription accuracy. Furthermore, AI- based translation tools such as Google Translate and Deep L translate facilitated the translation of the interview transcripts from Swedish to English. Throughout the process of this study, language editing tools, such as Grammarly and the spell check feature, were utilized to improve the spelling, grammar, and structure of the text. Additionally, an AI reference tool was used to assist in correctly formatting the references in line with academic standards. All the generative AI tools were embodied as supporting and assistant tools to comply with the university's guidelines. Moreover, all the AI-generated content, such as the transcriptions, translation, and reference list, was carefully examined and validated in order to ensure its accuracy. 5. Analysis and Empirical Findings The following chapter presents the study's results and analysis. The data, i.e. the respondents' transcribed answers, have been divided into two main themes: “Perceived Brand Authenticity” and “Consumption Dilemma and Cognitive Dissonance”. “Brand Authenticity” has been divided into four subthemes and “Consumption dilemma and cognitive dissonance” have been divided into five subthemes. The table below presents 32 an overview of the themes and subthemes, their connection to the theoretical framework, and example quotes. The table is followed by actual empirical findings and analysis. Themes Subtheme Connection to theory Examples (quotes) Perceived Brand Brand authenticity “it’s about standing by your values Authenticity and not just going along with trends” Authenticity Brand authenticity dimension – “if [HM] said ’we say no to through Continuity (Core values over time) overconsumption’, because then you Continuity know that it's not genuine at all” Authenticity Brand authenticity dimension – “The companies that I have seen through Credibility (Trustworthiness) running these kinds of campaigns are Credibility [...] more established companies that charge higher prices.” Authenticity Brand authenticity dimension – “I think it has a lot to do with through Integrity (Moral principles) greenwashing” Integrity Authenticity Brand authenticity dimension – “It feels good that someone else is through Symbolism (Self-connection) also taking responsibility.” Symbolism Consumption Cognitive Dissonance Theory - “I mean, it feels kind of bad to say, dilemma and psychological discomfort - Guilt but I do take advantage of the cognitive dissonance discounts during Black Friday Financial Cognitive Dissonance Theory – “I have no issue buying it on Black savings as an Change opinion Friday if it’s cheaper—honestly, that excuse just feels smart to me.” 33 Planning Cognitive Dissonance Theory – “I usually shop on Black Friday. But purchases Distortion/reinterpretation generally, it’s something I’ve been ahead looking at for a while” Pushing Cognitive Dissonance Theory - “Like, “Yeah, this is just the situation responsibility Distortion/reinterpretation I’m in right now,” but in the future, I away probably won’t do it again.” Offsetting the Cognitive Dissonance Theory - Add “There are definitely certain things I purchases new consonant cognitions prioritise more—like buying locally with other produced and sustainable goods.” sustainable behaviors Change is too Cognitive Dissonance Theory – “I’m a student right now, so there’s costly Circumstances make dissonance still a chance I might shop during more persistent something like Black Friday. “ Tabell 2. Consumer Responses of Demarketing Strategies Related to Black Friday 5.1 Perceived Brand Authenticity and Trust Brand authenticity appeared to be important for respondents when they evaluated brands' use of demarketing strategies during Black Friday. For instance, respondent 11, answered, when asked what an authentic company is and how it can be related to Black Friday: "I mean, it’s about standing by your values and not just going along with trends. Like, sure, Black Friday is a huge thing, but it’s also this big hype that kind of comes from the outside, and everyone just joins in. So, when a brand resists that because it doesn’t align with their values – that’s really powerful, in a way." 34 For a deeper understanding on how consumers respond to demarketing strategies during Black Friday through the lens of brand authenticity, the data was analysed through the four key dimensions of brand authenticity. The data fitted into the four dimensions, and therefore, these were used as subthemes. 5.1.2 Authenticity through Consistency One prominent theme that has been continually brought up by the respondents was the authenticity of the brand's demarketing strategies. The respondents brought up the consistency of the brand's behavior and values. Respondent 10 defined authentic brands as the ones that “uphold their values” during black Friday. Several respondents stated that when a company's Black Friday stand aligns with its history and values, it appears to be more genuine and original. For example, respondent 5 said: “I think I would be less inclined to shop at H&M if they said ’we say no to overconsumption’, because then you know that it's not genuine at all, it will actually make me irritated.” As Morhart et al. (2015) said, brands that show a continuance in their heritage and consistency over time, are viewed as consistent in their values. If H&M would make a demarketing campaign, it would contradict its fast-fashion image (Šajn, 2019), suggesting a break from its continuity. This showcases that if a brand has a long history of promoting sustainable and ethical consumption, abstaining from Black Friday discounts and encouraging mindful consumption comes across as a genuine extension of their values, which makes it seem more authentic. This can be connected to the continuity dimension of brand perceived authenticity, as Morhart, et al. (2015) explained, consumers perceive brands to be more authentic when it shows a consistency to its values especially during high selling periods, but also it reflects upon the likelihood of the brand to uphold these values in the future. This also confirms the findings from the studies of Reiche and Soule (2015) where consumers viewed demarketing strategies as more altruistic when a brand with exceptional environmental reputation employed them. 35 5.1.3 Authenticity through Credibility Many of the respondents also mentioned that they associate demarketing strategies under Black Friday with premium brands offering products with higher quality, which confirms the findings of Vilasanti da Luz et al. (2020), who found that consumers believe that the demarketing ads match the luxury brand positioning. For example, respondent 4 explains why she thinks companies have do demarketing campaigns: “I think it is corporations that sell things with a bit higher quality that choose to not participate in Black Friday campaigns. Because, they may have another turnover or business model? I think they might have a greater possibility applying this kind of strategy compared to like H&M and Bikbok, that has more mass production and a larger industry, less technical advanced products and more competitors” Respondent 10 also mentions “being established” as something she associates these strategies with, as this enables the companies to take this stance: “The companies that I have seen running these kinds of campaigns are not fast fashion companies, but more established companies that charge higher prices.” That being said, this kind of marketing approach is considered to be associated with certain brands and companies. Respondent 6 mentioned how retailers like Zalando, which are associated with low prices and frequent discounts, would not be able to deliver genuine reasoning with demarketing campaigns: “I'm just thinking, if we were to consider the possibility of Zalando or a similar retailer doing this. I believe their target audience might become upset because they are used to purchasing items at low prices from Zalando. It does not seem to align with what they generally represent. They are likely in favour of high consumption and low prices.” The respondents also tended to associate demarketing strategies during Black Friday with brands that have some type of ethical and moral values in their visions, particularly outdoor brands due to their connection to the environment. Respondent 6 continues: 36 “Yes, I mean Icebug and Haglöfs are quite similar brands. So I think it's a bit like these outdoor company with a bit like this, they might have a quite environmentally conscious and affluent target group” Similarly Respondent 10 expressed: “You would think that their target audience is outdoor enthusiasts who care about the environment. So you would think that this is a brand with the same values. ” Yet, as respondent 6 mentioned, it was also pointed out that the respondents thought that these outdoor companies have an established target audience that already has the same values about the environment. These responses can be connected to the credibility dimension (Morhart et al., 2015), where consumers found it implausible that certain companies like Zalando, associated with affordability and high volume, could credibly commit to demarketing campaigns. This in contrast with established, premium and outdoor brands known for its quality and ethical standards, which seemed more likely to follow through and stand by their word of having a demarketing campaign in the eyes of the consumers. 5.1.4 Authenticity through Integrity The perceived sincerity of a brand’s intentions also shaped the participants' perceptions. Some participants perceived the demarketing strategies as sincere and coming from genuine commitment to social and environmental values. For example, respondent 4 who perceived use of demarketing as “good and wise” and that it had a positive impact on her likelihood of purchasing from a brand using this strategy, mentioned that she had seen the brand “Sezane” having demarketing strategies, and explained what she thought about it: “They’re very much, like, not participating in Black Friday or advertising or, you know, campaigns and stuff. Discounts, sales, that kind of thing. They have a sustainability statement as part of their business idea instead, like, ‘No, we focus on making things ethically and using good materials,’ or however you want to put it, and also that the people working there should 37 get paid fairly—so that’s why they don’t do ads or sales.” [...] “Yeah, I mean, I think there are companies that take responsibility [...] They dare to go against what’s basically the big mainstream norm. Because everyone’s been kind of swept up in this whole advertising mindset, no matter what kind of business model they have. So, I guess it’s kind of respectable that they go their own way.” On the other side, there were numerous respondents that expressed that they had doubts regarding brands’ motives for using demarketing methods. They questioned whether the anti-consumption strategies were genuine or just a new marketing tactic to stand out and reach a larger customer base, like environmentally aware consumers. Many respondents mentioned the fact that companies were profit-making made them make connections to them having some exploratory motives behind the demarketing campaigns. For instance, participant 6 who did not fully trust the intention behind these campaigns, said: “I don't really feel like it's completely genuine, maybe? To be completely honest. It feels more like they see a way to like… get a green profile? […] Generally speaking, I support the idea, it’s more climate-conscious and pushes back against consumerism, but it just doesn’t feel entirely genuine. It seems more like they’re seizing an opportunity, because the alternative, lowering their prices and potentially not selling as much, is worse for them.” In this view, the participants view the use of demarketing messages as a strategy to build an eco-friendly image or to gain publicity, rather than coming from genuine environmental concerns. Respondent 2, who feels torn around the concept, also expresses a similar cynical take on demarketing during Black Friday: "I also think it's important that, if you're going to do it, you don't frame the company as some kind of martyr. Like saying, 'Yeah, we're doing this because we're so virtuous and noble,' when in reality you're just doing it to stand out from the crowd” 38 Similarly respondent 10 expressed “So it must be to enhance their reputation and appear a bit like a robust brand”. These negative attitudes highlight a distrust questioning whether the brand truly stands behind what they say. Respondent 2 explained further: “I mean, I do think that a lot of companies genuinely want to promote some kind of anti-consumption — like, to cut down on unnecessary purchases and reduce environmental impact. But deep down, I think both that and maybe some less noble strategies really come down to wanting more — in the end, it’s all about results. I mean, it’s not like the companies want people to stop buying altogether. What they’re really saying, at least the way I see it, is: don’t buy too much, but still keep buying from us. They’re still trying to show that they stand for sustainability, and so you should, logically, consume their products instead of someone else’s. So I still think sales is what's behind it all.” However, respondent 3, who has a similar stance to respondent 2, points out something worth noting when she was asked about what she thinks is the reason why companies do demarketing strategies. “I think it has a lot to do with greenwashing, but also to increase their revenue. especially if they continue in this way, because people think more highly of them. However, it is still a message that can be beneficial for people who do not think that way [to hear]” Implying that even if a brand's motives behind a demarketing campaign are not sincere, it is still a way to introduce and spread the concept of sufficient consumption to more people. As Morhart et al. (2015), mentioned, integrity reflects upon the true intention behind the brand's campaign. Even though the consumers might not see these brands as fully integrated or sincere, some of them still see it as a way to change the patterns. Another angle that has also been discussed is the overall negative experience regarding Black Friday campaigns. Many respondents mentioned how they have heard of companies increasing their prices before the event, only to lower them on Black Friday, claiming it is as a discount. Respondent 6 explains: 39 "This felt totally crazy at first, but then it also seemed like there’s been more scepticism around it the last two or three years, because of what you’ve heard — like companies raising their prices beforehand, and then doing these fake sales by lowering them just in time for Black Friday. So, people have probably become a bit more aware of that." This shows that if customers become uncertain regarding the honesty of companies in general, it might impact how they perceive even opposing activities like demarketing. According to Morhart et al. (2015) integrity can be described as the brand commitment to act in line with its stated values and moral principles. When brands promote fake sales actions or engage in insincere anti-consumption campaigns that do not seem to be genuine, it damages their perceived integrity. These actions increase the scepticism about the brand's true intentions. As a result, even demarketing messages that carry on social and ethical messages can be seen as exploitative if they are not aligned with the brand’s overall values. 5.1.5 Authenticity through Symbolism Most of the respondents expressed positive attitudes towards brands using demarketing strategies in the context of Black Friday. Many of them viewed the act of using anti- consumption messages as refreshing, brave, responsible, impressive or commanding respect. For example, participant 4 expressed: “I think it's good and wise to encourage people to reduce consumption” The positive attitudes were often tied to the consumers also morally approving of the act of discouraging consumption during Black Friday as they agreed on the event as unnecessary encouraging overconsumption. For example, participant 2 expressed: “Black Friday really is a consumer frenzy that's actually pretty bad in a lot of ways. So yeah, it's good that there are brands that choose to point that out.” The participants who expressed the most positive perception of the demarketing strategies were also the ones with the strongest environmental awareness. In other 40 words, they tended to be more favourable towards the brands when there was a high degree of alignment with the brand’s values and their own. A recurring theme of value alignment appeared, where participants that evaluated brands stand against Black Friday in relation to their own values towards sustainability, sufficient consumption habits and social responsibility etc. For example, respondent 4, who described herself as “a bit of an environmental nerd”, also answered that a brands decision to not participate in Black Friday would positively influence shops there, because she appreciated that such brands prioritize reducing consumption and environmental impact and that resonated with her own personal commitment. Similarly, participant 10 expressed: "Because I personally care a lot about the environment and stuff like that. And then it feels good that someone else is also taking responsibility.” These people appeared to feel validated and connected to a brand when they saw it act in a way that aligned with their values. The consumers who did not hold these values to the same extent seemed to hold more mixed perceptions of the brands using the demarketing strategies. Some participants admitted that, although sustainability is something that they claim to prioritize, they also enjoy the benefits of Black Friday as consumers. For example, participant 5 said she “liked the idea of not over consuming” But also confessed being drawn to certain brands due to convenience and the cheap price. For this participant values did only align partially, as she agreed in theory but behaviorally, she was not fully there. Followingly, her perception of brand’s demarketing was somewhat humid as she expressed she thought it was a good thing but was not entirely persuaded to act on it. Participant 8, who expressed that he did not prioritize sustainability in his consumption habits also expressed a limited effect of demarketing messages on his consumption. When asked why a brand's decision to not participate in Black Friday did not have any impact on his decision to shop there he explained: "partly it probably has to do with the fact that I haven’t been very engaged in buying from brands that are truly the best when it comes to sustainability and so on [..] Well, it’s honestly as simple as the fact that it’s not really 41 something I take into account. Even though I think it’s good, at least right now, being young and a bit naive, it’s not something I prioritize very highly." These different nuances in the responses illustrate how the effectiveness of demarketing strategies seem to depend on whether they align with consumers’ personal values. This can be connected to Morhart et al. (2015) fourth brand authenticity dimension symbolism, where consumers find a brand authentic when they share a symbolic connection with it. This means that the brand reflects the values of which their consumers care about, which enhances the consumer connection. These observations also support Yoon et al. (2025) research, where individuals view demarketing in a more positive way if they have high expectations on brands to act sustainable, opposed to the participants who believe brands primarily act for profit and react more negatively to demarketing ads. In summary, the respondents’ perceptions of the brands authenticity regarding demarketing strategies during Black Friday, depends heavily on how credible, genuine, and consistent the brands seemed to be. Brands that have a solid history in promoting ethical and moral consumption that align with their target audiences’ values are more likely to be seen as authentic. While many of the respondents were suspicious of the true intentions of these campaigns, especially if they came from brands that had a history of promoting mass production and consumption, some people still found value in the message regardless of the brands true motivation. Overall, the trust in a brand's authenticity was mostly dependent on how effectively the demarketing efforts aligned with the brand's current identity and behavior. Which is in line with Reich and Soules (2016) and Yoon et al. (2025) findings, as some consumers find demarketing messages as contradictory when coming from profit-driven corporations. 5.2 Consumption Dilemma and Cognitive Dissonance By solely applying Morhart et al. (2015) concept of brand authenticity to our findings, one could argue that consumers who hold values aligned with sustainable and sufficient consumption would be more likely to view demarketing strategies positively. This could subsequently affect their intention to support the brands having these demarketing 42 strategies or to not consume during Black Friday. Nevertheless, our findings suggest a more nuanced result in this matter. One prominent theme is the inner conflict that occurs among the consumers where they on one hand want to take advantage of the deals during Black Friday and on the other hand want to act in accordance with their personal values and beliefs regarding sustainability. While the majority of the consumers agree on Black Friday being “unnecessary”, “encouraging unnecessary consumption”, “stressful”, “bad for the environment” they still admit to buying things during the event. For example, respondent 5 answers, when asked what her opinion is about brands using demarketing strategies during Black Friday: “I mean, what can I say—it’s good in the sense that it helps the environment, but at the same time I’m also a consumer, so I think sales are great. And honestly, it’s from a selfish perspective—I just don’t want to spend too much money. But like, from a societal perspective, it’s definitely better not to have sales. Still, I do like sales.” Similarly, respondent 10 who otherwise describe herself as environmentally aware and positive to demarketing, mentions, when asked whether a brand using demarketing during Black Friday would affect the likelihood of her buying from that brand: “I mean, it feels kind of bad to say, but I do take advantage of the discounts during Black Friday [...] During Black Friday, I’m not going to buy from a company that has higher prices than usual. Maybe on another day, when prices are normal. I like that companies take a stand, but I don’t really take that same stand myself.” These findings align with Festinger's (1957) theory, which suggests that a psychological discomfort arises, visualised by quotes as “selfish” or “feels bad to say”, due to holding conflicting values or attitudes (e.g environmentally consciousness) that do not align with the person's behavior (consuming during Black Friday). As the theory suggests, the data also reveals different strategies that consumers use to reduce the physiological discomfort that the contradictory cognitions give rise to. 43 5.2.1 Financial Savings as an Excuse As the quotes above imply, many of the respondents who want to consume sustainably and not support overconsumption still admit to doing purchases on Black Friday and use their financial restrictions as an excuse. Applying the theory of cognitive dissonance (1957) this can be connected to distort perception/reinterpretation strategy to reduce their cognitive dissonance. In these cases, consumers distort their perception of their behavior, making it no longer in conflict with their sustainable self-image. For instance, respondent 6, a student relying on a 50% CSN budget, was asked whether a brand’s use of demarketing would affect his tendency to buy products from that brand: "I don’t think so, actually. No, I don’t think it has affected me—but that’s probably also because I’m a student right now, so there’s still a chance I might shop during something like Black Friday. So no, I don’t think so, but I can imagine that many others could have a more positive attitude towards it." Similarly respondent 4 answers: “If it’s a company I like, then I can definitely see myself choosing to buy from them even if it’s a bit more expensive. But of course, if I find, like, those exact running shoes or something I want and they’re cheaper somewhere else, then I probably will. As long as it’s the same product, the same brand, I’m absolutely fine with buying it on sale during Black Friday. And then maybe I’ll buy something else from the company I like that isn’t part of the campaign.” Similarly respondent 11 implies: “If it's something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, then I have no issue buying it on Black Friday if it’s cheaper—honestly, that just feels smart to me.” Here, the respondents justify their Black Friday purchases by framing their decisions as financially responsible and smart. Reinterpreting or distorting their misstep of participating in the mass consumption event through this way, reduces the 44 psychological discomfort coming from the contradiction between their values and behavior. 5.2.2 Planning Purchases Ahead Another recurring theme that already has been brought up in the previous quotes is consumers justifying their Black Friday purchases as well-considered and planned ahead. They describe the purchases as postponed, i.e purchases that they anyway would do during the year but postponed to Black Friday to get the products at a lower price. This resembles another distort perception/reinterpret information strategy to reduce cognitive dissonance. For example, respondent 4, who describes herself as environmentally conscious, explains that she writes a list of things she needs throughout the year and checks whether any of these things are at sale. Similarly, respondent 8, who does not describe himself as a consumer prioritizing brands’ environmental stances very highly, also answers that he plans his purchases ahead: “The times I’ve bought something during Black Friday, it’s usually something I’ve been thinking about for quite a while. So then it’s more like, “Oh, OK. I’ll just wait and get it cheaper then,” you know? But I wouldn’t say it’s like... absolutely. Sure, the statistics show that people buy way more on Black Friday, and some of that is probably overconsumption, but definitely not all of it—because I know from personal experience, the times I’ve shopped on Black Friday, it hasn’t been just for the sake of just buying stuff ”. or respondent 10, who also identifies as environmentally aware, says: “I usually shop on Black Friday. But generally, it’s something I’ve been looking at for a while. For example, I tend to buy running shoes then— because that’s something I’ll end up buying at some point during the year anyway, so I’d rather get them at a better price”. Alternatively , viewing it in the light of Celik & Ekici (2024), this could also be interpreted as a practice-based strategy for reducing dissonance where consumers 45 “alternate moral practices”. As consumers feel a conflict between consuming sustainable and supporting Black Friday, this way of only buying things they need during Black Friday might actually be a way for them to engage in compensatory ethical behavior. As most consumers have generally positive attitudes towards demarketing strategies during black Friday and some consumers even if they are sceptical about the motives behind demarketing during Black Friday, agree on that “it is still a message that can be beneficial for people who do not think that way [to hear]”. Combining these findings, this might imply that demarketing messages have an impact on consumers' purchasing behavior during Black Friday, making them less inclined to over consume and more inclined to only do necessary purchases. 5.2.3 Pushing Responsibility Away A couple of the respondents reduced their cognitive dissonance between their sustainability awareness and actual behavior, by trying to minimize their responsibility. According to Festinger, (1957) when the consumer's behavior cannot be easily changed, consumers try other strategies to resolve dissonance. In this case the respondents have tried to justify their behavior by distancing themselves from the responsibility, downplaying the significance of their actions. For example, Respondent 3, who is a student, downplayed her part in participating in Black Friday by suggesting that the low prices made her stop thinking critically about her purchases: “you don’t really think like, ‘Do I need this?’ because it doesn’t feel like it matters that much“. This reflects a reinterpretation/distorting of her behavior to reduce dissonance as she by framing the purchase as insignificant makes it no longer contradicts her sustainability beliefs (Festinger, 1957). Additionally respondent 8, represented a classic case of distorting perception and reduced sense of responsibility. When asked about whether a brand’s use of demarketing messages during Black Friday affect him in any way, he replies: “I haven’t been super aware and like always looking for the brands that are the best in sustainability and such [...] Honestly, it’s just that I don’t really take it into account. Even though I think it’s good, at least right now, being young and a bit naive, it’s not something I prioritize very highly." 46 Similarly, respondent 6 answers when asked whether he feels a conflict between consuming sustainable and doing bargains on the Black Friday sale: “Yeah, I guess I have, I mean—that’s the trade-off, right? As soon as you buy something as cheaply as possible, that’s usually what you’re compromising on a bit. Like maybe it’s not organic? Or maybe it’s made somewhere else or really far away? But I think you sort of see it as more of a temporary thing you do, like, “Yeah, this is just the situation I’m in right now,” but in the future, I probably won’t do it again.” These rationalization could also be viewed through the lens of the “New look” model of cognitive dissonance (Cooper & Fazio, 1984) as the participants appears to acknowledge that demarketing and consuming responsibly is a good thing, but pushes the responsibility away to decrease dissonance, as the model suggests that if individuals do not feel personally responsible for the consequences of their behavior, the dissonance is reduced. 5.2.4 Offsetting the Purchases with other Sustainable Behaviors The last recurring theme is consumers trying to offset their purchasing during Black Friday by pointing to their other sustainable behaviors. This can be connected to Festinger’s “adding new consonant cognitions”-strategy. For example, respondent 8 answers, when asked whether a brand’s stand against Black Friday would have any impact on his choice to shop from that brand: “No [...] There are definitely certain things I prioritise more—like buying locally produced and sustainable goods. When it comes to food, for example, I always try to choose Swedish products and things like that. But when it comes to clothes and other products, it’s more of a middle ground. I guess as long as the company isn’t, like, openly relying on slave labour or something.” This suggests that the consumer taking sustainability responsibility in one area, such as food, justify compromises in other areas, like cloth. As the respondent add new consonant cognition, “I buy Swedish products”, he reduces his cognitive discomfort, by presenting one sustainable behavior, it guaranties a license to engage of less sustainable actions, like participating in Black Friday shopping, without compromising his moral compass (Festinger, 1957). 47 Additionally, respondent 5 who acknowledged that demarketing messages are good from a societal perspective, admitted buying things during Black Friday. While she admitted to not being very environmentally conscious neither in her values or actions, she still proceeded to describe several acts that seem to indicate some level of environmental concern. “ I'd say no—but in some ways, I guess it does, well, I think if I truly cared deeply about sustainability, then I would consume in a more sustainable way. Except maybe when it comes to food, and that I try to take the bus. But I still buy socks at H&M, and that’s definitely not sustainable. So I suppose it does reflect my values, at least to some extent. But I wish I had stronger values and opinions when it comes to the environment. When it comes to food, I really focus on where and by whom it’s produced—I pay a lot of attention to that. But when I buy other products, I don't really think that much about sustainability. It’s really just food, to be honest. And I avoid places like Temu or Shein, or whatever else is out there. But otherwise, I’m probably not very driven by sustainability.” While she admitted to having some unsustainable behavior, like buying from H&M, she still emphasised her efforts to avoid other fast-fashion platforms, and only buying local food products. She aimed to present an image of someone who takes some responsibility for her consumption, despite some inconsistencies, drawing the focus to her sustainable behaviors and away from her unsustainable ones. According to the self- affirmation theory, by (Steele, 1988; Steele, Spencer & Lynch, 1993) people can reduce their cognitive discomfort and restore their self-image by focusing on other areas where, they act in line with their beliefs. In this case, rather than trying to justify her unsustainable consumption, she chooses to highlight more responsible acts to compensate for her unsustainable behavior, which reduces her cognitive dissonance, and presents her as someone who cares about sustainability to some extent. 5.2.5 Change is Too Costly A recurring theme is that few respondents said that demarketing does not affect their behavior, even though the respondents acknowledged the contradiction between their Black Friday purchases and their sustainability values. This can also be understood 48 through Festinger’s (1957) argument that dissonance can be difficult to change under certain circumstances, making rationalization and reinterpretation more likely. For instance, the purchase may involve pain or loss. Several respondents replied that giving up great deals would mean missing out on savings, which could feel like a loss. Second, the present behavior may be otherwise satisfying. For example, respondent 8 explained how he had been longing to buy Airpods for months and finally bought a pair during Black Friday. The discounts enable the consumers to buy things they might not be able to buy at the original price, while also making them feel smart while making bargains. Yet, the dissonance may persist because change is not simply possible. Several respondents, particularly students, said that due to their limited financial resources, they cannot always afford to act in accordance with their sustainable values. 6. Discussion Overall, our study supports previous research regarding how consumers perceive brands using demarketing strategies but adds a more nuanced and deeper insight from the consumer perspective. Many of the participants had a positive view of companies using demarketing campaigns during Black Friday, often describing it as a bold and responsible move. However, some respondents expressed concerns about the brands’ motives, suspecting that the use of demarketing strategies could be a marketing gimmick rather than coming from a genuine concern, a concern that can be tied to perceived brand authenticity. This confirms Yoon et al. (2025) and Reich and Soules (2016) findings, as some consumers find demarketing messages contradictory when coming from profit-driven corporations. Brand authenticity emerged as a critical factor, consistent with authenticity frameworks (Morhart et al. 2015), where the respondents viewed well- established sustainable brands as having more genuine motives. While companies that have poor environmental reputation were seen to have more explorative motives, supporting Reich and Soules (2015) findings. Respondents expressed doubts about its credibility and even suggested that it could indicate some greenwashing advertisement, suggesting that such a stand is inconsistent with the brand's usual beliefs and actions. 49 Additionally, personal beliefs have also been suggested as a factor that influence how consumers respond to demarketing. Consumers who recognized themselves as environmentally conscious were more likely to embrace the demarketing approach and support the brand if the brand’s actions are aligned with genuine environmental values. This also supports Yoon et al. (2025) findings where consumers with high CSRO were more approving of demarketing than the low CSRO consumers. To summarize, consumer perceptions of brands employing demarketing strategies during Black Friday ranged from admiration to scepticism. While a campaign that consistently reflects the brand's stated values and previous actions is praised as admirable, one that appears inconsistent or insincere raises questions. This supports prior research, while contributing with a new perspective of demarketing in the context of Black Friday. When it comes to actual behavior, even the most environmentally aware consumers admitted to making purchases during Black Friday, contradicting their own values. Through the lens of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957), this points out that even if consumers verbally express that they find Black Friday unnecessary and environmentally harmful, it still seems to represent a meaningful opportunity they are behaviorally unwilling to give up. Financial restrictions and the satisfaction of making deals seems to play a crucial part in sustaining this behavior. These findings support prior research on cognitive dissonance theory on green consumption behavior. The dissonance reducing strategies identified among our respondents, such as blaming financial restrictions, compensating through future environmentally friendly actions or downplaying the actions' negative effects, resembles those described by other studies like McDonald (2015) or Sharma and Paço (2021). As Festinger suggests (1957), cognitive dissonance might be hard to eliminate under certain circumstances. As we live in a consumer society, (Ekström et al. 2017), Black Friday and its discounted prices may act as a bridge for consumers to attain all the products one wishes to use to construct one's identity making it even more meaningful in times of economic recession, and even harder to give up. 50 Alternatively, from an optimistic perspective, some of these justifications could indicate that demarketing approaches may positively impact consumer behavior in an environmental sense. The recurring theme of consumers planning purchases ahead that appeared through the interviews could support Celik and Ekici’s (2024) findings on the practice-based strategy for reducing dissonance, called “alternating moral practices”. To reduce the dissonance from participating in the mass-consumption event, consumers may compensate for their participation by actually only buying necessities, not engaging in overconsumption, and then act in accordance with their sustainable values. As our data does not show what behaviors actually occur, it remains unclear whether this is simply a dissonance-reducing strategy, where consumers reinterpret their behavior to ease their conscience, or not. We therefore suggest that future studies should look into how these behaviors play out in reality, for example, through ethnographic studies or other suitable methods. 6.1 Future Research This qualitative research fills a gap in the literature by diving deeper into the consumer perspectives of demarketing in the context of Black Friday, while also introducing cognitive dissonance as a new perspective on demarketing. The findings support the theoretical importance of brand authenticity but also reveal that demarketing during the event does not yet seem to have become rooted in consumer behavior. As our findings cannot be generalized to a wider population, future research could test these insights in larger and more diverse samples in other settings. As neither of our participants identified themselves at the extreme ends of the eco-interest spectrum, further research could include those kinds of respondents to see if there are even more contrasting views. Our research also suggests that consumers could react differently depending on wealth and age, which could make ground for future studies. 51 6.2 Implications for Marketers or Practitioners For marketers, the key takeaway from our study is that authenticity matters. Consumers applaud companies that stand against over consumption, but only if the actions align with the companies overall identity and values. This supports prior findings, where brands with great environmental reputation are perceived as altruistic while brands with poor reputation using demarketing messages are seen as cynical (Reiche & Soule, 2015). Marketers should therefore ensure that the brand has an overall sustainable image before applying demarketing strategies, as these otherwise may backfire. Our study suggests that brands with sincere motives that are considering employing demarketing strategies during Black Friday should not fear any potential damages for their brand. Additionally, focusing on the reasons why demarketing is done, putting the corporation aside, not framing the brand as a martyr (as one of the interviewees noted) could be beneficial to reduce the view of the act as a marketing gimmick. Pricing is also important to consider. Since nearly all participants gave economic restrictions as a reason why they choose to consume during the event. This suggests that brands may need to rely on their consumer base being financially stable and not feeling compelled to shop during Black Friday when using a demarketing strategy. Another option, if the company seeks to reach more price-sensitive consumers, could be to discount circular services, such as upcycling or repairing - an approach that is already used by several brands. This approach could attract more budget-conscious customers while not contributing to over consumption. 52 6.3 Implications for Society For society, the study’s findings may reflect a shift in consumer culture toward greater environmental awareness and more mindful consumption patterns. Many respondents said that they viewed Black Friday as an excessive and stressful event and expressed appreciation for brands that take a stand against it. Additionally, most respondents claimed that their purchases during Black Friday were planned in advance and that the products bought were necessities. As one of the respondents acknowledged, brands that use these demarketing campaigns to challenge the norm of endless shopping deals could raise consumer awareness of their shopping habits and make intentional and mindful shopping habits the norm. One of the most important findings of our study was found before the interviews were done, as we had a hard time finding people who were familiar with the demarketing concept. As more consumers become aware of these campaigns, we might see more change. However, consumers still admitted to buying during Black Friday. Even the most conscious consumers justified their purchases by economic restrictions or by framing them as necessary and postponed. Whether justification corresponds to actual behavior remains unclear as our study did not verify this in practice. As price plays a critical role in sustainable consumption, these findings may suggest a need for society to apply more broader changes, such as policy interventions, in combination with corporate demarketing efforts to achieve a broader change in peoples’ consumption habits. To summarize, our findings on consumers responses on demarketing messages during Black Friday casts an important light on the friction between today’s consumer society and the climate crisis. It reveals one of the main obstacles: the behavior-attention gap. While consumers may value the demarketing stance they may still feel external pressure to consume. 53 7. Limitations There are several limitations that should be considered when evaluating the findings of this study. First of all, the sample was limited in terms of age, background and occupation, which makes it not representative of a wider population (Bell et al., 2019). This due to the limited time frame, as we had to focus on finding people that were familiar with the demarketing concept, which forced us to compromise on differences in the respondents’ backgrounds. Additionally, the fact that the respondents were recruited from our circle of acquaintances, even if they were not close, may incur skewed or biased data as these people may share some characteristics, values or interests with us. For example, the respondents may adapt their responses to what answers they think we want to attain, or they may avoid expressing controversial opinions (Bell, E. et al., 2019). Another limitation could be that most interviews were conducted online. While this method allows for accessibility and flexibility to plan the interviews with more people, it still might have impacted the depth of our interactions with the respondents, as we were unable to catch their body language or go as in-depth as might have been possible in face-to-face interviews (Bell, E. et al., 2019). Additionally, the translation from Swedish to English imposes a risk of translation errors or loss of nuance in meaning, which could have affected the analysis. 8. Conclusion This study was aimed to examine how consumers respond to demarketing messages during Black Friday by analysing consumer responses through the concept of Brand authenticity and cognitive dissonance theory. Most respondents appreciated demarketing strategies and agreed on Black Friday being unnecessary and contributing to overconsumption. Yet, some consumers questioned the motives behind the demarketing strategies whether they were of genuine concern or a marketing tactic used rather to create an image of being a socially responsible brand. By analysing the responses through the four brand authenticity dimensions, our research suggests that in order for brand to successfully introduce a demarketing strategy during Black Friday with the aim to increase consumers’ perceived brand trust, the strategy needs to be: 1. Consistent with the brands long term values 54 2. Coming from a brand seen as being able to follow through the promise 3. Perceived as coming from sincere motives 4. Having symbolic alignment with its target audiences’ values. The more dimensions that are met, the more trust the consumers will have in the brand. Nevertheless, even if consumers were sceptical about the motives, they still appreciated brands drawing attention to the problem with over consumption. In spite of positive attitudes, particularly from environmentally aware consumers, the concept of demarketing does not seem to affect consumer behavior during Black Friday. Through the lens of cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957), we revealed that consumers experience a conflict between their green beliefs and wanting to take advantage of the deals during Black Friday. Through the interviews, different strategies to reduce cognitive dissonance and justify their purchases were revealed, like for instance: 1. Using financial savings as an excuse, 2. Claimed postponing of purchases to get a better deal, 3. Minimizing their own responsibilities and 4. Offsetting the purchases by other sustainable behaviors. The reason why this dissonance may be difficult to eliminate may be due to the fact that giving up savings might be too painful, even for consumers who have the ability to act in accordance with their sustainable values. In a consumer society, Black Friday provides consumers with an opportunity to buy more for less and add more nuances to the constructed self-image. As Varey (2010) suggests, in today's consumer culture, changes may need to be implemented on several levels in order to shift current consumption patterns to be more sustainable. Nevertheless, if the justification of postponing purchases to Black Friday is true, our finding may reflect an already ongoing shift toward a more sustainable consumption pattern, even in the context of Black Friday. As the demarketing concept is still quite new, there is still a lot to explore when it becomes recognized by the common public. 55 9. References ● Armstrong Soule, C.A. & Reich, B.J., (2015). Less is more: is a green demarketing strategy sustainable? Journal of Marketing Management, 31(13– 14), pp. 1403–1427. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2015.1059874 ● Aronson, E. (1968). Dissonance theory: Progress and problems. In R. P. Abelson, E. Aronson, W. J. McGuire, T. M. Newcomb, M. J. Rosenberg, & P. H. Tannenbaum (Eds.), Theories of cognitive consistency: A sourcebook (pp. 5- 27). Chicago: Rand McNally. ● Aronson, E. (1992). The return of the repressed: Dissonance theory makes a comeback. Psychological Inquiry, 3, pp. 303-311. ● Bell, E., Bryman, A. & Harley, B. (2019). Business research methods. 5th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 56 ● Boyd Thomas, J. & Peters, C., (2011). An exploratory investigation of Black Friday consumption rituals. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 39(7), pp. 522–537. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/09590551111144905 ● Brown, T.J. & Dacin, P.A. (1997) The company and the product: Corporate associations and consumer product responses. Journal of Marketing, 61(1), pp. 68–84. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299706100106 ● Brunk, K.H. & de Boer, C. (2020) How do consumers reconcile positive and negative CSR-related information to form an ethical brand perception? A mixed method inquiry. Journal of Business Ethics, 161(2), pp.443–458. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3973-4 ● Carroll, A.B. (1979) A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Model of Corporate Performance, The Academy of Management review, 4(4), pp. 497–505. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/257850. ● Cairns, H.M., Ritch, E.L. and Bereziat, C. (2021). Think Eco, Be Eco? The tension between attitudes and behaviors of millennial fashion consumers. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 46(4), pp.1262–1277. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12756. ● Celik, H. and Ekici, A. (2024)“I Crossed My Own Line, But Here is What I do”: The Moral Transgressions of Sustainable Fashion Consumers and Their Use of Alternating Moral Practices as a Cognitive-Dissonance-Reducing Strategy. Journal of Business Ethics, 196(10.1007/s10551-024-05877-8). doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05877-8. ● Cooper, J. and Fazio, R.H. (1984) A new look at dissonance theory. In: L. Berkowitz (ed.) Advances in experimental social psychology. Orlando, FL: Academic Press, pp. 229–264. ● Dimock, M. (2019). Defining generations: Where millennials end and generation z begins. [online] Pew Research Center. Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end- and-generation-z-begins/. 57 ● Ekström, K.M., Ottosson, M. and Parment, A. (2017) Consumer behavior : classical and contemporary perspectives. First edition. Lund: Studentlitteratur. ● Esaiasson, P., Gilljam, M., Oscarsson, H., Wängnerud, L. & Bergström, A., (2017). Metodpraktikan: konsten att studera samhälle, individ och marknad. 5:e edn. Stockholm: Wolters Kluwer. ● Flick, U., 2018. An introduction to qualitative research. 6th edn. London: SAGE. ● Festinger, L. (1957) A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ● Festinger, L. (1962) Cognitive Dissonance. Scientific American. United States, pp. 93–106. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1062-93. ● FN-förbundet (2016) Näringsliv och global utveckling. Faktablad 2/16. Available at: https://fn.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Faktablad-2-16- N%C3%A4ringsliv-och-global-utveckling.pdf ● Foucault, M. (1997) The essential works of Michel Foucault : 1954-1984. Vol. 1, Ethics : subjectivity and truth. London: Allen Lane. ● Haglöfs. (2023) Why skip Black Friday if we're going to have sales anyway? [Online]. Available at: https://www.haglofs.com/sv/explore- haglofs/responsibility-matters/why_skip_black_friday (Accessed: 24 May 2025). ● Harmon-Jones, E., & Mills, J. (2019). An ıntroduction to cognitive dissonance theory and an overview of current perspectives on the theory. In E. Harmon- Jones (Ed.) Cognitive dissonance: Reexamining a pivotal theory in psychology. 2nd edn. Washington DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 1–34. ● Jacobsen, D.I., Sandin, G. & Hellström, C. (2002) Vad, hur och varför: om metodval i företagsekonomi och andra samhällsvetenskapliga ämnen. Lund: Studentlitteratur. ● Jones, E. E. (1985). Major developments in social psychology during the past five decades, in Lindzey, G & Aronson, E (eds.), The handbook of social psychology. 3rd edn. New York: Random House, pp. 47-108. 58 ● Kalpokas, N. & Hecker, J. (2023) The Guide to Thematic Analysis. ATLAS.ti Research Hub. Available at: https://atlasti.com/guides/thematic-analysis/how- to-do-thematic-analysis-step-by-step-guide ● Kadioglu, C.T. and Öztürk, E. (2022) 'Demarketing for sustainability: Examining anti-‘Black Friday’ communication campaigns of global brands', A Refereed Monthly International Journal of Management, 14(12), pp. 52–65. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362965258_Demarketing_For_Susta inability_Examining_Anti- Black_Friday_Communication_Campaigns_of_Global_Brands ● Kotler, P. & Levy, S.J. (1971) Demarketing, yes, demarketing. Harvard Business Review, 74, pp.74–80. ● Kotler, P. (1996) Marketing management : analysis, planning, implementation and control. 7th edn. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. ● Kotler, P., 2011. Reinventing marketing to manage the environmental imperative. Journal of Marketing, 75(4), pp.132–135. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.75.4.132 ● Kwon, H.J. & Brinthaupt, T.M. (2015) The motives, characteristics and experiences of US Black Friday shoppers. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 6(4), pp.292–302. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/20932685.2015.1070681 ● Lawrence, J. & Mekoth, N. (2023) Demarketing for sustainability: A review and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 47(6), pp. 2157–2180. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12904 ● Lindh, H. & Sundström, M. (2023) Debatt: Stoppa fusket i handeln under den svarta veckan. Dagens Industri, 20 November. Available at: https://www.di.se/debatt/debatt-stoppa-fusket-i-handeln-under-den-svarta-veckan/ (Accessed: 26 May 2025). ● Luo, X. & Bhattacharya, C.B. (2006) Corporate social responsibility, customer satisfaction, and market value. Journal of Marketing, 70(4), pp.1–18. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.70.4.001 59 ● Markauskaitė, R. and Rūtelionė, A. (2024) ‘Disclosing antecedents of consumers’ materialistic and green values conflict: an exploratory study’, Management of environmental quality, 35(5), pp. 1078–1095. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-08-2023-0275. ● McDonald, S., Oates, C.J., Thyne, M., Timmis, A.J. and Carlile, C. (2015) Flying in the face of environmental concern: why green consumers continue to fly. Journal of Marketing Management, 31(13–14), pp. 1503–1528. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2015.1059352 (Accessed: 26 May 2025). ● Morhart, F., Malär, L., Guèvremont, A., Girardin, F. & Grohmann, B. (2015) Brand authenticity: An integrative framework and measurement scale. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 25(2), pp.200–218. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2014.11.006. ● Naturkompaniet (n.d) Green Friday: Vårda det du har. [Online]. Available at: https://www.naturkompaniet.se/kampanj/green-friday/ (Accessed: 24 May 2025). ● National Retail Federation (2024) 197 million consumers shop over Thanksgiving holiday weekend. National Retail Federation. Available at: https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/197-million-consumers-shop-over- thanksgiving-holiday-weekend (Accessed: 26 May 2025). ● NRF. (2024). 197 Million Consumers Shop Over Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend. [online] Available at: https://nrf.com/media-center/press- releases/197-million-consumers-shop-over-thanksgiving-holiday- weekend(Accessed: 9 April 2025). ● Patagonia Stories. (2011). Don’t Buy This Jacket | Patagonia SE. [online] Available at: https://eu.patagonia.com/se/en/stories/dont-buy-this-jacket-black- friday-and-the-new-york-times/story- 18615.html?srsltid=AfmBOoq6D8v2V3D3vYbzhrKk5xSMB_keMApPJ- 9amIaapCsHj3QpG8Ag (Accessed: 26 May 2025). ● Patel, R. & Davidson, B. (2019) Forskningsmetodikens grunder: att planera, genomföra och rapportera en undersökning. 5th edn. Lund: Studentlitteratur. 60 ● Reich, B.J. & Soule, C.A.A. (2016) Green demarketing in advertisements: Comparing “buy green” and “buy less” appeals in product and institutional advertising contexts. Journal of Advertising, 45(4), pp.441–458. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2016.121464 ● Rokeach, M. (1960) The open and closed mind: Investigations into the nature of belief systems and personality systems. New York: Basic Books ● Santos, C., Coelho, A. and Marques, A. (2024) ‘The greenwashing effects on corporate reputation and brand hate, through environmental performance and green perceived risk’, Asia-Pacific journal of business administration, 16(3), pp. 655–676. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/APJBA-05-2022-0216. ● Schallehn, M., Burmann, C. & Riley, N. (2014) Brand authenticity: Model development and empirical testing. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 23(3), pp.192–199. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/jpbm-06-2013-0339 ● Scher, S.J. and Cooper, J. (1989) Motivational basis of dissonance: The singular role of behavioral consequences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(6), pp. 899–906. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.56.6.899. ● Sekhon, T.S. & Armstrong Soule, C.A. (2019) Conspicuous anticonsumption: When green demarketing brands restore symbolic benefits to anticonsumers. Psychology & Marketing, 37(2), pp.278–290. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21299 ● Sen, S. & Bhattacharya, C.B. (2001) Does doing good always lead to doing better? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2), pp.225–243. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.38.2.225.18838 ● Shao, X., Jeong, E. (Lena), Zhang, X. & Jang, S. (Shawn) (2023) Green marketing versus demarketing: The impact of individual characteristics on consumers’ evaluations of green messages. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 49(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/10963480221147054 ● Sharma, N. and Paço, A. (2021). Moral disengagement: A guilt free mechanism for non-green buying behavior. Journal of Cleaner Production, 297(126649), p.126649. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126649. 61 ● Steele, C.M. (1988) The psychology of self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self. In: L. Berkowitz (ed.) Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 21. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 261–302. ● Steele, C. M., Spencer, S. J., & Lynch, M. (1993). Self-image resilience and dissonance: The role of affirmational resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, pp. 885—896. ● Svensk Handel (2024) Black Friday 2024. [pdf] Stockholm: Svensk Handel. Available at: https://www.svenskhandel.se/api/documents/black-friday-2024.pdf (Accessed: 11 April. 2025). ● Šajn, N. (2019). Environmental impact of the textile and clothing industry: What consumers need to know. [online] European Parliament, European Parliamentary Research Service, pp.1–10. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2019/633143/EPRS_B RI(2019)633143_EN.pdf ● The School of Business, Economics, and Law’s guidance on using generative AI in higher education. (2024). ● Tisell, C. (2021) Debatt: Stoppa fusket i handeln under den svarta veckan. Dagens Industri, 20 November. Available at: https://www.di.se/debatt/debatt- stoppa-fusket-i-handeln-under-den-svarta-veckan/ (Accessed: 9 April 2025). ● (UNEP (2025). Unsustainable fashion and textiles in focus for International Day of Zero Waste 2025. [online] UN Environment. Available at: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/unsustainable-fashion- and-textiles-focus-international-day-zero(Accessed: 11 April 2025). ● Varey, R.J. (2010) ‘Marketing Means and Ends for a Sustainable Society: A Welfare Agenda for Transformative Change’, Journal of macromarketing, 30(2), pp. 112–126. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146710361931. ● Vilasanti da Luz, V., Mantovani, D. & Nepomuceno, M.V. (2020) Matching green messages with brand positioning to improve brand evaluation. Journal of Business Research, 119, pp.25–40. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.07.024 62 ● Vlachos, P.A., Tsamakos, A., Vrechopoulos, A.P. & Avramidis, P.K. (2009) Corporate social responsibility: Attributions, loyalty, and the mediating role of trust. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 37(2), pp.170–180. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-008-0117-x ● Yoon, H.J., Kim, J., Kim, S. & Lee, J. (2024) The effectiveness of green demarketing campaigns: The moderating role of corporate social responsibility orientation. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 43(3), pp.630–652. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-01-2024-0034 10. Appendix- Interview Guide Intervjuguide 1. Introduktion Hej! För det första vill vi börja med att säga ett stort tack till dig för att du vill ställa upp på intervjun. Vi heter Lobna Alloh och Amanda Kleijn och vi är två ekonomistudenter från handelshögskolan i Göteborg som skriver vårt kandidatarbete i marknadsföring där vi vill undersöka hur konsumenter ser på varumärken som använder sig av demarketingstrategier i samband med Black Friday. 1.1 Syftet med intervjun Demarketing strategier som vi talar om är en typ av marknadsföring där företagen istället för att uppmana folk att köpa mer uppmanar konsumenter till att köpa mindre av deras produkter. Allt fler företag har börjat använda sig av denna strategi i samband med Black Friday, som har blivit en symbol för överkonsumtion. Exempel på detta är t ex Haglöfs som under Black Friday dubblar priset på nyproducerade produkter och marknadsför second hand produkter istället. Ett annat exempel är Icebug som inte heller sänker sina priser utan istället ger all vinst till välgörenhetsorganisationer. The Body Shop avstår från Black Friday och använder istället veckan till att uppmärksamma mäns våld mot kvinnor genom en kampanj i samarbete med ungarelationer.se, där de ersätter rabattskyltar med statistik om våld mot kvinnor. Asket kommunicerar tydligt sitt avstånd från Black Fridays överkonsumtion 63 på sina reklamskyltar och har endast sina butiker öppna för lagning av plagg under dagen. (Visa bilder) Syftet med den här intervjun är att undersöka hur konsumenter ser på varumärken som använder demarketingstrategier i samband med Black Friday. Vi vill förstå hur varumärken som väljer att avstå från erbjudanden eller uppmanar till mindre konsumtion påverkar konsumenternas köpbeteende och konsumenternas syn på varumärket. 2. Frågor 2.1. Varumärkesuppfattning ● Har du någonsin stött på något varumärke som valt aktivt avstå från Friday-rean? ○ Hur går dina tankar kring företag som väljer att göra det? skriva om så att vi får mer av personerna. ○ Hur påverkar ett företags beslut att avstå från Black Friday din relation till varumärket – om det gör det alls? ○ Vilka tankar eller känslor väcker det hos dig när ett företag väljer att inte delta i Black Friday? 64 ○ Vad tror du är anledningen till att företag väljer att avstå från black- friday? ● Har ett företags beslut att inte delta i Black Friday någon betydelse för om du väljer att handla där? ○ Hur tycker du att företag kommunicerar när de förklarar sitt beslut att inte delta i Black Friday? Hur uppfattar du den kommunikationen? ○ Vad, för dig, kännetecknar ett autentiskt företag – och hur relaterar det i så fall till Black Friday? ● Enligt dig, vad för typ av varumärken är lämpliga för att tillämpa en sådan strategi? Tycker du att alla typer av varumärken skulle kunna göra det eller finns det företag som inte är lämpliga? ● Är det någon typ de-marketing strategi som du tycker är bättre än en annan? ● Skulle du kunna tänka dig att byta till ett mer hållbart varumärke under Black Friday, även om produkterna var dyrare? ● Hur tror du att dina vänner eller familj ser på företag som tar avstånd från Black Friday i sin marknadsföring? ● Har du någonsin känt en konflikt mellan att vilja handla något billigt på Black Friday och samtidigt vilja konsumera mer hållbart? 2.2. Allmänna konsumtionsvanor - Kan du berätta hur du brukar tänka när du bestämmer dig för att köpa något? - Vilka faktorer är viktiga för dig när du väljer mellan olika produkter eller varumärken? - Skulle du säga att din konsumtion speglar dina värderingar? Varför/varför inte? - Har dina konsumtionsvanor förändrats över tid? I så fall hur? 2.3. Relation till Black Friday - Vad är din relation till Black Friday? Är det något du brukar delta i? - Om ja, kan du berätta varför du väljer att göra det? - Kan du berätta om dina typiska shoppingvanor under Black Friday eller Black Week? 65 - Är det några speciella typer av produkter som du brukar köpa under black-friday? - Tycker du att rabatter på Black Friday påverkar din vilja att köpa produkter som du egentligen inte behöver? - Har du någonsin funderat över hur konsumtion under Black Friday kan påverka miljön? - Om nej, kan du berätta om varför du väljer att inte göra det? - Har dina tankar kring Black Friday förändrats över tid? I så fall hur? - Hur påverkas du av vad andra i din omgivning (vänner, sociala medier etc.) tycker om Black Friday? - Vad är dina allmänna tankar om konceptet Black Friday? 2.4. Relation till hållbarhet - Hur, om alls, brukar hållbarhet påverka dina val när du köper produkter? - Hur tänker du kring att välja hållbara alternativ om de är dyrare än andra produkter? - Har du någon gång avstått från ett köp för att det kändes ohållbart? 2.5 Bakgrundfrågor - Ålder - sysselsättning - familjestatus 66