Antecedents, Sequence, and Consequences of Social Media Brand Crisis in China: The Case of Canada Goose 2021

Antecedents, Sequence, and Consequences of Social Media Brand Crisis in China: The Case of Canada Goose 2021 | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Antecedents, Sequence, and Consequences of Social Media Brand Crisis in China: The Case of Canada Goose 2021 Sanjay Jhaveri This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2829334/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Social media brand crisis of a foreign brand in China suggests the sudden occurrence of many, mainly negative social media utterances against the brand. Understanding how such a crisis unfolds and what are related consumer sentiments on social media deserves managerial attention. This paper examines the case of a global Canadian brand, Canada Goose, when it experienced a social media crisis over its refund-policy and alleged use of double standards against Chinese consumers. By using case-study methodology, the findings of this research uncover the discernible stages along which the crisis proceeds and reveals the role of Chinese grassroots nationalism in fulling the social media crisis. Marketing China Social Media Brand Crisis Grassroots Nationalism Consumer Animosity Consumer Nationalism Cancel Culture Sina Weibo Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Introduction The social media crisis of a foreign brand in China is one type of crisis when social media acts as an “alternative discursive space” for public expression, as well as trigger and facilitator for brand crises in China (Wang & Laufer, 2020 ). In 2012, when KFC China was accused of feeding growth hormones to chickens in the company's supply chain, it responded on the same day in its official microblog stating there was no evidence suggesting unethical or improper behaviour by their poultry supplier. However, regardless of KFC's statement, a microblog mocking KFC was widely circulated, blaming KFC for not apologizing for the crisis and resulting in a boycott of the brand (Wang & Laufer, 2020 ). As reported by (Gao, 2012 ), global brands such as Nestle´, Toyota, Hewlett-Packard, P&G, Sony, and Johnson & Johnson have all become targets of such a crisis. One of the major complaints about foreign brands in China is that they discriminate against Chinese consumers and treat them differently from how they treat their customers in developed countries (Tian & Dong, 2010 ). The brand crisis incidents reported in the 2007, China brand report, which was first of its kind, claimed that Chinese consumers were subjected to double standards, lower levels of customer service, inferior quality products, and stricter return exchange policies by western brands. For example, Carrefour, Toyota Reiz, P&G’s SK-II cosmetics, and Chivas 12-Year are all reported examples of Western brands that engaged in practices deemed disrespectful to Chinese consumers” (Tian & Dong, 2010 ). “With the prevalence of internet and easy access to information about the outside world, Chinese consumers are more aware of various brands and consumers in other parts of the world, and desire and expect equal treatment from companies (especially those of famous brands) […]. Any perceived difference in product quality or “double standard in return/exchange policies” would be interpreted by Chinese consumers as a lack of respect and would invoke a sense of humiliation from the past. This is another illustration of Chinese consumers’ viewing foreign brands as oppressors” (Yu 2007, 323, as cited in Tian & Dong, 2010 ). In December 2021, Canada Goose experienced a social media crisis over its refund-policy in China and allegations Canada Goose was using double standards against Chinese customers became viral on social media (Griffiths, 2021 ). As reported by the global times ( 2021 ), on 27th of October 2021, a customer went to return a down jacket she bought from the Canada Goose store in Shanghai, China, claiming that the Canada Goose logo was incorrectly embroidered. The Canada Goose store refused to refund the money based on the company return/exchange policy and was later criticized by Chinese consumers over its controversial product refund policy and discriminatory double-standard operations in the Chinese mainland (Times, 2021 ). It is vital for luxury brands like Canada Goose to understand Chinese markets and Chinese consumers and be prepared, because China is poised to become the most important luxury brand markets by 2025. As reported in the McKinsey report, more than half of the global growth in luxury spending between 2012 and 2018 came from China, and by 2025, Chinese consumers will account for 40 percent of the world’s luxury spending (Zhang, 2019 ). Using the case of the Canada Goose Social Media Crisis in late 2021, this paper seeks to investigate how a Social Media Crisis of a global brand, caused by different service standards between home country and China, unfolds. Specifically, the research explores the following research questions: Research Question: Are there discernible stages along which the crisis proceeds? What events can trigger such a Social Media Crisis? Which consumer emotions (e.g., grassroot nationalism, consumer animosity, consumer fairness seeking) can fuel the crisis on Social Media? What consumer associations are related to these emotions? What can be consequences of such a Social Media Crisis (e.g., on brand image, sales, stock price) in short-term perspective and medium-term perspective? Literature Review Brand and negative publicity Since brands are considered an organisation’s most important asset, there has been considerable research into branding and related topics. Brand Equity, the total value of a brand, has been defined and measured by researchers in different ways (Aaker, 1991 ; Keller, 1993 ; Fetscherin, 2021). Accordingly, Aaker’s ( 1991 ) brand equity model has brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality, brand loyalty and other proprietary assets as its five brand equity dimensions, while Keller’s ( 1993 ) customer-based brand equity (CBBE) framework has brand awareness and brand image as two brand equity dimensions. Fetscherin’s (2021) Brand Wheel has brand equity as one of the core domains, along with brand identity and brand image. The Brand Wheel also attempts to conceptualise and visualise the most discussed branding concepts and underlying theoretical relationships into categories of cognitive (share of mind), affective (share of heart) and behavioural responses (share of voice and share of wallet), while integrating the nature of increasing intensities of these concepts (Fetscherin, 2021). Brands frequently deal with negative brand information through traditional media like television, radio, newspapers etc., and through modern media such as the internet, social media, smartphone apps, etc. Especially, the internet and social media have drastically increased the speed of negative brand information spread (Ward and Ostrom, 2006 ). People now can face negative brand information more frequently than a decade ago (Eisingerich et al., 2011 ). Negative publicity is a key part of negative brand information and has more serious effects than negative rumours or negative word of mouth (nWOM) because such negative information is usually confirmed and verified by authorities (Kim et al., 2007 ). Negative publicity often spreads through major media and it is generally believed to be more trustworthy than rumours and nWOM (Bond and Kirshenbaum, 1998 ) and is easier to accept (Ahluwalia and Gürhan-Canli, 2000 ). There are two types of negative publicity performance-related, which is negative brand information about functional aspects, like quality, of a brand; and value-related negative publicity, which is negative brand information about business practices or ethical issues (Dean, 2004 ). As suggested by recent research, consumers may have a stronger negative response to value-related negative brand information (Liu and Sweeney, 2011 ; Pulling et al., 2006). Brand image and brand attitude are two key components of brand equity, where brand attitude reflects a consumer’s evaluation of a brand (Keller, 1993 ), and is one of the most frequently studied theoretical concepts in negative brand information research (Um & Kim, 2016 ). Negative brand information has a significant and direct negative effect on consumers’ overall attitudes towards the affected brand (Dentoni et al., 2011 ). The prior studies have found that value-related negative publicity can harm brand attitude more than product related negative publicity (Liu and Kanso, 2011 ). Where consumers are loyal to the brand and their prior brand attitude is held with a high level of certainty then negative publicity may not influence brand attitude (Pullig et al., 2006 ). Brand image (BI) is a consumer’s perception of specific brand attributes such as whether the brand is innovative, stylish, fashionable, etc., and BI is an important component of brand equity (Keller, 1993 ). Like brand attitude, negative brand information can also damage brand image (DeCarlo et al., 2007 ). One of the important outcomes of brand equity is purchase intention. Past research has studied the impact of negative publicity on purchase intention and found that negative publicity and nWOM has negative effect on consumers’ purchase intentions (Wyatt & Badger, 1984 ; Huang & Chen, 2006 ) and/or their actual purchase behaviour (Liu, 2006 ). Social Media Brand Crisis Individuals need mediated and simplified accounts of reality to understand the world they live in and conceive the risks associated with their lifestyle and decisions (Beck, 1992 ). The role of mass media is important in a brand crisis, in terms of role towards the brand and towards the crisis, because of their tendency to construct dramatised accounts of crises and to amplify risks and fear as part of the constant effort to gain the media audience’s attention (McQuail, 2003 ). In the old days, before the Internet existed, crises spread mostly by traditional mass media, such as newspapers, television, and radio, and traditional brand crisis research focused particularly on crises that resulted when consumers were harmed by a product (Chen et al., 2009 ), when there was a service failure (Hoffman et al., 1995 ), when the company was complicit in a social failure situation (Folkes & Kamins, 1999 ), or when it failed to communicate properly (Pullig et al., 2006 ). Apart from crises that trigger negative publicity and produce symbolic effects for the organisation, crises in organisations are adverse events waiting to happen which are unavoidable for any organisation or a brand (Yannopoulou et al., 2011 ). In this regard, the communication of crises is critically influenced by mass media, because mainly through them that consumers can grasp knowledge about problems related to the brand and the characteristics of the crises. While the conventional literature on crises addressed crises as events and accidents (Fink, 1986 ; Mitroff et al., 1987 ), researchers later on defined crises as communication based phenomenon, associated with the projection of negative images in public setting and start a public process of risk construction and dissemination (Coombs, 1999 ). Whenever there is a brand crisis, mass media play an important role in forming negative publicity, influencing communication, constructing dramatised accounts, amplifying risks and fear, making consumers aware about problems related to brand and nature of crisis, and gaining media audience’s attention (Yannopoulou et al., 2011 ). Most sets of mass media in a given national society are a chance result of historical growth due to technological advancement, either connected by a shared political-economic logic; like the free-enterprise media of the U.S or the state-run media of China (McQuail, 2010 ). Since media choose to report bad news more frequently than good news, it may seem possible that negative publicity attracts media attention (Dennis & Merrill, 1996 ). Moreover, unlike positive information, negative information is anticipated to change consumers’ knowledge about the brand, their brand trust, and their favourable brand associations (Dawar & Pillutla, 2000 ). The rise of social media has created a new condition for consumers to debate brand actions with each other, and such discussion often takes place in concurrence with coverage by traditional mass media (Hewett et al., 2016 ). Unlike traditional brand crises, which were mainly driven by journalists' contributions, social media brand crises are aggregations of consumers' digital word of mouth (Hansen et al., 2018 ). There are systematic differences between face-to-face word of mouth, consumer reviews or electronic word of mouth, and social media word of mouth because of the differences in speed and reach of the messages (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2015 ). A message travelling through social media can reach far many consumers within a short time compared to the traditional medium. Chinese Social Media: Sina Weibo In China, more and more people use the Internet to discuss various events in society, express their attitudes and opinions, and because of that has changed the way people in China communicate and interact with each other (Song et al., 2022 ). Sina Weibo is a micro-blogging social media platform like Twitter. “Weibo is the “weibo” (“微博”, meaning microblog), a post analogous to a tweet, and users on Sina Weibo perform two main functions with weibos: they author weibos and they read weibos” (Littman et al., 2017 ). Any Weibo user can create and post a feed; and any user can follow another user and add comments to a feed while reposting, and this asymmetric and distributed nature of Weibo allows an original feed to become a live viral conversation stream (Weibo, 2021 ) With a user share of 46% and 573 million active users, Sina Weibo is currently ranked 10th in the world (Thomala, 2021 ). In China it is ranked 5th, preceded by Little Red Book, Baidu Tieba, WeChat, and Douyin (Social Media, 2022 ). Sina Weibo users are more likely to live in megacities than other social media users, majority of them are 18–29-year-old compared to the total online population, 53% of them are female, they have centrist political views, and on social media they interact with companies more often than other social media users (Social Media, 2022 ). Service Failure And Recovery “Service failure, or service breakdown, can be defined as a service that does not meet the customer’s expectations” (Sparks & Fredline, 2007 ). Consumers may have multiple responses to service failure, and some common examples are anger, complaint, regret, and disappointment (Sparks & Fredline, 2007 ). There are several responses that customers may have to service failure or poor service recoveries. The findings from the study conducted by Weun et al. showed that “service failure severity has a significant influence on satisfaction, trust, commitment, and negative word-of-mouth” (2004). When a company engages in activities to address the service failure issue faced by a customer, it is called service recovery (Holloway & Beatty, 2003 ). “When service failures occur, the recovery process is likely to have a greater impact on loyalty than the original service failure” (Buttle & Burton, 2002 ). A service failure may trigger a brand crisis. For example, in June 2019, a controversial statement from an economist of Swiss bank UBC created a social media outburst in mainland China, causing serious trouble for the bank (Zaagman, 2019 ). When Japanese sports drink Pocari became the unofficial drink of choice for Hong Kong’s protest movement, after its Hong Kong branch removed advertising from a pro-Beijing TV station, it became a target of Chinese social outrage (Zaagman, 2019 ). In September 2020, when Swedish retailer H&M posted a statement of concern about forced labour in Xinjiang cotton on its website, there was a huge Chinese social media crisis for the brand (Friedman & Paton, 2021 ). Various consumer traits may exacerbated a brand crisis for companies from a different country. Consumers may already hold a "grudge" against a particular nation, called "consumer animosity". Consumers in a particular country may have generally nationalist and ethnocentric sentiments towards foreign brand which become apparent in the course of a brand crisis. On Social Media, such nationalistic sentiments are expressed as a grassroots nationalism which ultimately may result in a climate of Cancel Culture for foreign brands. Alternatively, consumers may develop negative emotions to brands applying different standards of customer service in different countries merely out of consumer fairness seeking, irrespective of the home country of the brand. The following sections reviews the literature on these consumer traits. Consumer Traits Fuelling Social Media Crises Of Foreign Brands Consumer Animosity Klein et al. ( 1998 ) were the first to define consumer animosity as “remnants of antipathy related to previous or ongoing military, political or economic events”. They also stated that animosity towards another country might have many sources (Klein et al., 1998 ). Consumers’ choices vary in how they choose their animosity targets, and there can be various reasons behind their animosity feelings, such as economic, political, religious, or personal (Riefler & Diamantopoulos, 2007 ). According to Leong et al. ( 2008 ), whether animosities were based on historical perspectives or recent experiences, it would negatively affect consumer behaviour. The construct of consumer animosity has recently received more attention in consumer behaviour studies in both intra-national and international marketing settings (Leong et al., 2008 ). Consumers’ animosity can influence consumers’ attitude towards all products from a particular country despite perceived quality, therefore consumers who hold any animosity would avoid purchasing any products related to an offending nation, even though the quality of products with that origin was not undervalued (Buss, 1961 ). Animosities can be further divided into situational, stable, national, and personal, where situational animosities are temporary, based on some recent situation whereas stable animosities are long term in nature based on some historical perspective, national animosities are from a macro-perspective, and personal animosities are based on personal experiences (Riefler & Diamantopoulos, 2007 ). Along with the rise in economic protectionism and consumers’ increasing ability to act on their animosity through social media, brands should act more cautiously so as not to be harmed by customers’ country–brand associations (Westjohn et al., 2019). Consumer Nationalism Chinese nationalism first emerged in the late nineteenth century, when China experienced a series of humiliations in the hands of foreign powers (Zhao 2004, as cited in Gao, 2012 ). “The concept of nationalism can include both a collective perspective, such as economic protectionism, autarchy, and cultural isolationism, and an individual perspective, such as voting behaviors and cultural cliches” (Balabanis et al., 2001, as cited in De Nisco et al., 2020 ). Nationalist individuals show a tendency to be more competitive and militaristic, and believe in the superiority of their ingroup, while holding negative stereotypes of outgroups, which may be visible through their attitudes toward trade protection, restriction of foreign investment, restriction on the immigration of workers, and restriction of foreign firms and intellectual property (De Nisco et al., 2020 ). On the contrary, some of the important findings of the past research on Consumer Animosity show that antipathy toward a foreign country has a negative effect only on acceptance of products associated with it but is not related to product beliefs and animosity affects buying behavior directly rather than through cognitive beliefs (De Nisco et al., 2020 ). Consumer nationalism refers to consumers’ invocation of their own national identity vis-à-vis the perceived nationality of companies and brands to favour or reject products from certain countries (Wang, 2007 ). Wang further stated that consumer nationalism is not unique to any country, however, because the emotional power of nationalism is an important element of the Chinese market and because of China’s crucial role in today’s world economy; consumer nationalism plays a central role in Chinese consumers’ relationship with global brands (2007). According to Wang and Wang, Chinese consumers’ resistance to Western brands is driven by nationalistic motives as a symbolic gesture of loyalty to the nation state (2007). By rejecting the brands of other nations, consumers could become a barrier to international brands as they expand into the Chinese market, resulting in immediate financial loss due to boycotts and/or damage to brand image and reputation (Wang and Wang 2007 , 136–8). However, in 2003, transnational advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather, reported an interesting finding dubbed “Patriot’s Paradox”, according to which Chinese youths who are the strongest patriots used Western brands almost as much as those with lesser feelings of nationalism; meaning desire for Western brands among China’s youth is sufficiently strong to override patriotic sentiments unlike older consumers (Wang 2008 , 19). In recent times, consumer nationalist outbursts towards foreign brands in China, because of the real or perceived offences to China, have reached a fever pitch (Zaagman, 2019 ). The Chinese government has also been playing a crucial role in triggering consumer nationalistic sentiments, since Chinese consumers are acting as an extension of their political agenda (Hong et al., n.d.). Grassroots Nationalism Lately, a new form of grassroots nationalism has emerged in China, which uses new technologies, like social media, to protest foreign brands (Gao, 2012 ). Chinese grassroots nationalism contains a strong antiforeign sentiment and a victim complex, and because criticism of the government is rarely tolerated by the regime, Chinese nationalist find it much easier to lash out at foreign targets to release their anger (Gao, 2012 ). While traditional research on nationalism has focused on influence from nations, governments, and elites neglecting the role of the public and grassroots’ influence on nationalism, in the new Internet era nationalism is redefined as it allows the public to express freely relative independent personal beliefs; in particular the emergence of Weibo in 2009 drove China into the social media era generating new ways of social interaction, enhancing the frequency and influence of nationalism (Liu, 2019 , p.110). Historically, Chinese grassroots nationalism was reactive in nature, often caused by international events; however, after the advancement of the Internet in China, Chinese nationalists have discovered new ways to nurture their antiforeign sentiments online, using the Internet (Gao, 2012 ). Both historical memories and current events can be driving factors for the grassroots nationalism and its influence on the foreign brands, and in recent years reputation of the foreign brands have suffered serious setbacks due to widely publicised quality issues (Gao, 2012 ). Gao’s paper talks about how unprepared foreign companies in China are to deal with Chinese grassroots nationalism… “So far, foreign companies appear to be ill prepared to deal with the ramifications of Chinese grassroots nationalism (Ogilvy & Mather Greater China 2008). Their routine responses are two-fold. When there are no crises, they sometimes actively mobilise nationalist appeals in their marketing materials (e.g., Kang 2008). However, when there are crises, they look for excuses, issue superficial apologies when they have to, or turn to the Chinese government for help (Lei 2010; Yu 2008)” (Gao 2012 , p.188). Based on the literature review of grassroots nationalism, it is possible to conclude that it is quite different from the previously reviewed construct of consumer animosity, because consumer animosity is always directed towards a specific target country (Appendix H, Figure H1) and there will always be an explicit mention of the target country in data (Riefler & Diamantopoulos, 2007 ). Consumer Ethnocentrism The theoretical concept of consumer ethnocentrism, which was first defined by Shimp and Sharma as the belief held by consumers about the propriety and morality of purchasing foreign products (1987). According to Klein et al. ( 1998 ) consumer animosity is a separate concept from consumer ethnocentrism, and Klein ( 2002 ) further argued that both concepts play different roles in affecting purchase behaviour. Consumer animosity is directed toward a particular country, while consumer ethnocentrism is about people’s belief regarding foreign products, and both animosity and ethnocentrism have been mentioned in the past studies as negative antecedents of the willingness to buy foreign products (De Nisco et al., 2020 ). While the nationalism and ethnocentrism constructs differ from one another and encompass different types of consumer feelings, it can be argued that nationalism may lead to ethnocentrism because consumer nationalists are willing to make a sacrifice to purchase a domestic brand because they believe that imported goods may damage their country’s economy (De Nisco et al., 2020 ). Cancel Culture In her 2022 book, Cancel Culture: A Critical Analysis, Eve Ng defined “Cancel Culture” as “comprising both cancel practices (cancelling) that involve actions against cancel target, which may be an individual, brand, or company, and cancel discourses, which is commentary about cancelling.” (Ng, 2022, p.1). On October 7, 2020, when a member of a famous K-pop band, BTS, made a remark about the shared South Korea-US history, many Chinese ‘netizens’ expressed their anger towards BTS, and various Chinese media outlets, including official media of Chinese Communist Party like Global Times, sympathised with BTS critics (Ng, 2022, p. 2). In “Cancel Culture” there is always a cancel target, which can be an individual, brand, or a company that is subject to cancel practices; revolving around social media posts that explicitly use the term “cancelled” or posts that mean the same thing, like “Get out. BTS is dead” post (Ng, 2022, p.5). “Much cancelling activity occurs on social media platforms, and as such, there is an enormous amount of data; for even just a single case, there may be thousands, tens of thousands, or more cancel tweets, not to mention first-order and second-order discourses about cancelling. Cancel discourse are discussions and commentary about cancel practices and their aftermath.” (Ng, 2022, p.5–6). In 2019, Gartner Management Consultancy provided some of the most prominent examples (Table 1 ) of the power of China’s cancel culture in its report (Flora, 2019 ). Table 1 Brand Name Details Consequences Dolce & Gabbana “Received online backlash after being called out by fashion industry Instagram watchdog account Diet Prada.” “The massive social media uproar in China generated a 2512% increase in Weibo conversations about the brand, and resulted in tangible, disastrous consequences: the cancellation of a multi-million dollar China fashion show, removal from e-commerce platforms, and the loss of all of its Chinese brand ambassadors.” MAC Cosmetics “Omitted Taiwan from a map of China” “Hashtag #MAC ad’s China map omits Taiwan# receiving over 6.8 million views on Weibo, the brand’s China office issued an apology on its Weibo account.” Fashion retailer Gap “Over a map of China on a t-shirt sold in Canada.” Similar consequences like MAC Zara and Vogue “Criticized online for featuring Chinese models whose looks did not conform to mainstream Chinese beauty standards” “Sparking an outcry that their “ugliness” was insulting to China.” La Mer It was sued in October by a prominent Chinese blogger for claiming on its Chinese site that its cream had “cured” burns, while its English site said it could “soothe” them. “The Weibo hashtag #La Mer cheats Chinese consumers# received over 92.3 million views and 118,000 comments.” Maybelline “Chinese media reported on March 18 that Tmall and JD.com users had complained that the brand had not given out free items as promised and did not state that a flash sale had ended” An example of the most recent brand at the center of a consumer rights issue Balenciaga “Users complained of mistreatment of a Chinese national in line to buy its Triple S sneakers in Paris” “Faced online furor in April last year and went dark on Weibo for four months after issuing an apology” Source: Gartner.com (Flora, 2019 ) Based on literature reviews, it is possible that consumer nationalism and animosity can collectively result in a "cancel culture" phenomenon. It also appears that nationalism is not some static concept in time, but it has emerged and evolved with progression in time, technology, and medium of communication, and consumer nationalism and grassroots nationalism are just different manifestation of traditional Chinese nationalism. Certainly, there are also concepts like ‘Cyber Nationalism’ and ‘Fandom Nationalism’ etc., which are not independent theoretical concepts emerged on their own, which one can apply independently without referring to their predecessor(s), but instead they are context specific and may coexists with each other in certain phenomena of interest. Consumer Fairness Seeking Prior research studies have shown that consumers use reference point in making decisions (Goldfarb et al., 2012 ), they “may take different reference point as fair in different settings” (Harutyunyan et al., 2017 ), they have fairness concerns, and there are numerous elements that can influence their perception of fairness (Harutyunyan et al., 2017 ). To earn long term loyalty of their consumers, businesses should create an image of fairness, because when consumers are at risk or in unfavourable situation, breach of justice principles can provoke perception of unfairness which in turn can trigger intense reactions from them and motivate them to get even with the businesses (Seiders & Berry, 1998 ). Tentative Theoretical Framework Based on the research questions and the literature review, the following tentative frameworks are proposed (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 ). The frameworks are used for the reference purposes, to understand the social media brand crisis (SMBC) in its entirety, and not for the purpose of hypothesis testing. The theoretical frameworks are tentative because as stated by Ridder, the case study design has different purposes in theory contribution and there are different designs to serve those purposes (2017). “Gaps and Hole” design (Appendix A), where the phenomenon of interest is partially understood with tentative theory in place, will be relevant to the case study design of this paper. The theoretical predictions shown in Figs. 1 and Fig. 2 came out of existing theories, and pattern-matching is used to compare the theoretical predictions with data. This comparison of theoretical concepts with rich case material data is the ground for new elements and relationships within the tentative theory (Ridder, 2017 ). The frameworks are also used to understand various antecedents leading to the Social Media Brand Crisis (SMBC), the possible drivers responsible for fuelling the intensity of the SMBC, and the possible outcomes of the SMBC on the brand Canada Goose. A rival explanation based on the initial findings of the literature review is shown in the Fig. 2 below. Research Methodology This research used a qualitative case study approach to the collection and analysis of data, using primarily Netnography and Secondary Sources of Data. To explore the central research questions – what the events are leading to the Canada Goose’s SMBC in China, what are the influencing factors related to the SMBC, what role did state, mass media, and online communities in China play in fuelling the crisis, as well as what are the possible and perceived outcomes of the SMBC– the case-study methodology was used. The following section discusses the unit of analysis, justification for using case study approach, the case of Canada Goose, the selection of social media and other Internet sites to conduct netnography, the selection of secondary sources of data, and the procedure of data collection and analysis. Case Study Analysis As The Method Of Choice As suggested by Dean ( 2004 ), the author believes that the case study methodology has been used in most studies focused on the corporate and brand crises. The case study approach can explain, describe, or explore events or phenomena in the everyday context in which they occur, and therefore provides the opportunity to acquire the best possible insight into the research topic of this paper (Yin, 2014 ). A case study methodology is suggested when a holistic, in-depth investigation is required (Feagin et al., 1991), as it reveals the details from the viewpoint of multiple sources of information and gives the chance to investigate a real-life phenomenon while strengthening the research findings (Yin, 2014 ). This will be an intrinsic case study based on the case of a well-known Canadian brand, Canada Goose, in China. The Case Of The Social Media Brand Crisis Of Canada Goose In China 2021 Canada Goose Holdings Inc. is a company based in Toronto, Canada. It designs, manufactures, and sells performance luxury apparel for men, women, youth, children, and babies. Founded in 1957 by Sam Tick, in a small warehouse in Toronto, Canada Goose has grown into one of the world's leading makers of luxury apparel (Our History | Canada Goose®, n.d.). Canada Goose is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “GOOS”. Canada Goose's entry into the Chinese market began in 2018, with the opening of two stores in Hong Kong and Beijing in the same year. In 2019, Canada Goose set up its Greater China headquarters in Shanghai. According to the official website of Canada Goose, it currently has 17 stores in the mainland China (Store Locator | Canada Goose®, n.d.). In November 2021, Canada Goose was accused of double standards because of a customer return/refund issue in one of their stores in Shanghai, China. A customer purchased a Canada Goose jacket from their store in Shanghai on October 27, 2021 and found that there were some problems. The trademark was embroidered with an extra arc, stitches were rough, and fabric had a pungent smell. When she went back to the store to return the goods, she found out that she couldn’t return the product because she had signed, at the time of purchase, a document called “Replacement Clause.” It was handed to her by the clerk when she was making payment for the product. The product could not be bought without signing, so she signed it at that time. Later, the customer communicated with the store clerk and store manager and even contacted Canada Goose’s head office via e-mail. However, because of this clause, she was refused to return the product. The Replacement Clause she signed stated that “Unless relevant laws provide otherwise, all products sold in specialty stores in mainland China are not allowed to be returned.” Sometime in November 2021, she complained on the Chinese social media platform “Sina Weibo” to a group called “I want to complain- thoughtful Shanghai”. Based on her complaint, on 30 November 2021, the Sina Weibo group published a report. Notably, in 2018 and 2021, Canada Goose was also targeted by the Chinese government, consumers, and media, as reported in various known publications. In December 2018, it became a target of Chinese consumers demanding boycott of Canadian products, when a high-ranking executive of smartphone maker, Huawei, was arrested in Canada (Appendix E). In September 2021, it faced accusations of misleading advertising in China and was later fined by the Chinese government (Appendix F). This case is not only about uncovering details surrounding a major real-life social media brand crisis of a well-known Canadian brand in China, but it is also about examining how a seemingly routine business issue is picked up by one of the most powerful Chinese social media sites and turned into a social media brand crisis. Along with a case-study methodology, an interpretive approach is used to study multiple realities, and create thick descriptions and a deep understanding of the phenomenon under study. Data Sources Netnography Netnographic analysis is employed to understand the SMBC of Canada Goose in China. According to Kozinets, “Netnography is a specific set of related data collection, analysis, ethical, and representational research practices where a significant amount of the data is collected from networked digital communication through a participant-observational research stance that originates in the ethnographic research stance of anthropology” (2017). Netnography is also an adaptation of ethnography to the study of online communities focused mainly on social media (Kozinets & Gambetti, 2020 , p.7). The amount and type of data collected vary and is dependent on the nature of phenomenon of interest, and reaching data saturation, that is, when no new ideas or themes emerge is a good indication of enough data collected (Hennink & Kaiser, 2022 ). Some researchers think that once accepted need for human presence in netnographic studies is giving way to naturalistic and bias-free non participatory approaches, which are tenable in some environments and not in other (Costello et al., 2017 ). Kozinets ( 2010 ) asserts that “participation, including reading through and interacting with (by clicking through, making notes upon, and so on) posted online material in a ‘real time’ human fashion, can be considered a viable form of netnographic participation” (Kozinets, 2017 ). Qualitative analysis was used for the purposes of identifying and characterising user sentiment, emotions, and their related cognitions during the brand crisis period. The netnography qualitative approach gathered data from different Chinese websites, and the participant contributions on these sites poured in from Chinese participants. The sources include Sina Weibo, South China Morning Post, and Baidu. No ethics approval was required for this study, as it relied on publicly available data, did not include any identifiable information, did not include any private messages between users, and there was no interaction between Weibo, Baidu, South China Morning Post, and the researcher. Out of the three sources, the majority of chosen social interactions among participants during the observation process were based on Sina Weibo: mainly due to its enormous contribution in creating SMBC of Canada Goose. Secondary Sources Of Data Using ‘Investigative Research on the Internet’ method (Appendix G) described by Lugosi et al.(2012), secondary sources of data were collected and analysed from news articles and published resources like, official Canada Goose page on Weibo, blog posts on Weibo from bloggers and influencers, Global Times, Lowy Institute, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, CBC, China Daily, Shanghai Daily, CGTN, South China Morning Post, BBC, NBC, Bloomberg, Fortune, The Interpreter, Forbes, CCG.net, breakinglatest.news, Goethe Institute, and the latest published financial reports of Canada Goose. Since most data sources used in this study were in Simplified Chinese, Google Translate (GT), part of Google, was used to translate Simplified-Chinese into English language. Google Translate is the world’s number one translation software, and since its launch in April 2006, GT’s quality of translation has improved tremendously thanks to advances in machine learning, such as the GNMT neural translation model (Mykhalevyh, 2022 ). GT is a free online translation tool used for translating words, phrases, or web pages, and accessible via two platforms: the web interface and mobile applications (Android and iOS) and is based on Statistical Machine Translation; so instead of doing word-for-word translation, the system calculates the probabilities of various translations of a phrase being correct (Pham, 2022). GT allows users to enter the source language in a variety of ways, including using a virtual keyboard, voice recognition, handwriting, the complete document, or the entire uploaded file (Pham, 2022). Data Analysis And Results Stages in the Social Media Crisis of Canada Goose in China 2021 From the secondary data available, it appears that the brand crisis unfolded in distinct stages described in the following. Trigger Events On October 27, 2021, A customer bought a down jacket (Fig. 3 ) with a model number of 9512M at the "Canada Goose" store at No. LG1-58 on the ground floor of the Shanghai International Finance Centre shopping mall at a price of 11,400 yuan. After returning home, the customer found that the logo (Fig. 4 ) of "Canada Goose" was embroidered wrong: an extra arc was embroidered at the centre sun. She claimed the stitching of the down jacket was rough (Fig. 5 ) and that there were many long and short thread ends; that the edges of the fabric in the pockets were not hemmed, that there was a phenomenon of detachment; and that the fabric also had a pungent smell. The customer claimed that on October 27, before she paid, the clerk did not inform her that the purchased goods could not be refunded or returned. When she finished swiping her credit card, the clerk asked her to sign a piece of paper called ‘Exchange Policy’ (Appendix B, Figure B2). It stated: Unless otherwise stipulated by relevant laws, all goods sold by specialised stores in mainland China cannot be returned. Local Response On October 28, when the customer complained to the store manager of Canada Goose, they refused to accept the goods and asked the customer to get in touch with the head office. When the customer asked for the head office phone number, the store manager could not provide it and asked the customer to look for it herself. On November 14th, the customer wrote an email and sent the detailed photos of the clothes and other vouchers to the Canada Goose Testing Centre mailbox ( [email protected] ) in the form of an email attachment. But then they replied that Canada Goose does not provide product certification through photos (Fig. 7 ). Note. The customer stated that her claim was not big, and she only asked for a return or refund; however, it has been more than a month and still they could not provide her satisfactory solution. Escalation Stage The Social Media Brand Crisis (SMBC) of Canada Goose started in the morning of, November 30th, 2021, on the Chinese social media site, Sina Weibo, after an influential Weibo group called “I want to complain- thoughtful Shanghai” (Figure B1), published a news report titled, “Canada Goose logo is wrongly embroidered, and the fabric is pungent... stores in mainland China, no returns”(Fig. 8 ). This report received over 6.85 million readings, and 15,228 comments (Xinmin, 2021 ). The report was based on a complaint the Weibo group received sometime in November 2021, from the customer of Canada Goose in Shanghai. Canada Goose Primary Response In response to the incident, on the morning of December 1 (China Time), Canada Goose posted a statement (Fig. 9 ) on their official Weibo account page (Fig. 10 ) saying that the meaning of Article 1 in the "Replacement Terms" of Canada Goose's specialty stores in mainland China is that, in compliance with relevant laws and regulations, all mainland China products sold in specialty stores can be returned for a refund. After the product is delivered, if there is a quality problem, in line with the Canada Goose warranty policy, you can enjoy a lifetime warranty on materials and workmanship.” Dissemination Of Social Media Crisis From November 30th to December 2nd the hashtag “Canada goose stores in Mainland China are not allowed to be returned” became a hot search on Sina Weibo and was further reported by Chinese media and other Sina Weibo group members with a number of different hashtags. The Table 2 below describes names of 17 chosen hashtags, along with number of times they were read and number of discussions about them. Table 2 Sr no Hash Tag (English) Hash Tag (Simplified Chinese) Number of times read Number of discussions 1 #Canada Goose stipulates that stores in mainland China are not allowed to return # #加拿大鹅规定中国大陆门店不得退货# 420 million 19000 2 #Canada goose down jacket shedding and refusing to repair# #加拿大鹅羽绒服掉毛还拒修# 33.706 million 2727 3 #Canada goose can’t fly out of the website of Chinese law # #加拿大鹅不能飞出中国法律之网# 73.571 million 2918 4 #Canada Goose's market value evaporated by 8.4 billion in 10 days# #加拿大鹅市值10天蒸发84亿# 97.678 million 3526 5 #Canada Goose has 20 stores in the Chinese market and only 9 stores in Canada# #加拿大鹅在中国市场20家店在加拿大才9家# 1.871 million 78 6 #Canada goose why Chinese consumers look differently# #加拿大鹅为何对中国消费者另眼相看# 110 million 5621 7 #CanadaGoose's market value has shrunk by over 8 billion# #加拿大鹅市值缩水超80亿# 8.182 million 86 8 #Canada goose can’t fly out of China Legal Network# # #加拿大鹅不能飞出中国法律之网# 73.571 million 2918 9 #Canada goose return Chinese and foreign do not engage in double standard # #加拿大鹅退货中外有别搞双标# 5.978 million 104 10 # Who gave Canada goose the confidence to be arrogant# #谁给了加拿大鹅傲慢的底气# 10.239 million 1282 11 #Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee Three Questions Canada Goose # #上海消保委三问加拿大鹅# 29.615 million 1150 12 #Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee will continue to interview Canada Goose# #上海消保委将继续约谈加拿大鹅# 23.357 million 1080 13 #China Consumers Association said that any brand has no privilege in front of consumers# #中消协称任何品牌在消费者面前都没特权# 11.698 million 940 14 #CanadaGoose Chinese and foreign return policies are different is double standard# #加拿大鹅中外退货政策不同是双标吗# 9.064 million 1482 15 #Canada Goose denies that offline stores do not allow returns# #加拿大鹅否认线下门店不允许退货# 41.827 million 1811 16 #CanadaGoose treats Chinese consumers differently# #加拿大鹅为何对中国消费者另眼相看# 110 million 5621 17 #Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee Interview with Canada Goose# #上海市消保委约谈加拿大鹅# 51.872 million 2472 Mitigation Efforts With Government On the morning of the same day (December 1), the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee (SCPC) interviewed Canada Goose [Xiji (Shanghai) Trading Co., Ltd.] (Figure F2). According to the SCPC, during the interview, Canada Goose participants did not understand the specific meaning of the "replacement clause" of the specialty store. It further stated that the company's return and exchange process expressed by the participants was quite different from the actual situation reported by consumers. The SCPC required Canada Goose to submit a formal explanation of the "Replacement Terms" before noon on December 2. The SCPC also asked the participants whether the return and exchange terms of Canada Goose specialty stores outside mainland China were consistent with those in mainland China, and they said they did not know. However, Canada Goose participants confirmed the relevant provisions of the 30-day no-reason return on Canada Goose's official website and said that this clause does not apply to mainland China, and the 7-day no-reason return clause applies to mainland China. Involvement Of State Media On December 2, 2021, Chinese state-run newspaper, Global Times, reported that “Shanghai authorities summon Canada Goose for talks over double-standard selling policy” (Figs. 11 & 12 ). On December 3, 2021, Sina Technology, which is the most influential TMT industry information and digital product service platform in China, claimed on their official Weibo account that “The arrogant "goose" finally confessed. Canada Goose seems to have "admitted". This morning, Canada Goose headquarters exclusively responded to Sina Technology, saying that if there is a problem with materials and workmanship, it can be refunded and returned within 14 days according to Chinese law. This is the first time the official promises to refund the return.” (Yadan, 2021 ). One very interesting aspect of Sina Technology’s blog post on Weibo was that it stated explicitly that Canada Goose became the target of media crusades and involvement of China Central Television. “This winter, Canada Goose has been lying on the hot search and has become the target of all media crusades. Just now, China Central Television named "Canada Goose" and said: When the products you provide are not scarce, and the quality and service are not equal to the amount paid by consumers, we can choose to vote with our feet. "Canada Goose" without actual action, there is not much time left for you! The reason for this round of public opinion turmoil came from a consumer's strange shopping experience: after spending 11,400 yuan on a Canada Goose down jacket, he was refused to return it. The store staff bluntly stated that "no return" is a general term in China.” (Yadan, 2021 ). Involvement Of Global Media Many global news media picked up this story and reported on December 2, 2021. For example, The Globe and Mail reported that, “Canada Goose comes under fire again from Chinese state media, regulators after returns policy sparks furor” (Griffiths, 2021 ) (Fig. 13 ). While New York Post (Fig. 14 ) reported that, “Arrogant and superior’ Canada Goose faces fresh backlash in China” (Fickenscher, 2021 ). Escalation To Other Western Luxury Brands On December 5, 2021, the Global Times reported that after Canada Goose, there are other luxury brands found to be following double standards against Chinese consumers: “French luxury brand Louis Vuitton and Italian luxury label Gucci are among the latest international brands found to be using differentiated product exchange and return policies toward consumers in the Chinese mainland compared with other markets, sparking fresh backlash from Chinese consumers after the case of Canadian luxury parka maker Canada Goose” (More Global Brands Criticized for Discriminatory Return Policy in Chinese Mainland - Global Times, 2021 ). The news report also stated that brands like Christian Dior and Burberry also follow different after sales policy in China compared to other markets, and particularly mentioned that Louis Vuitton’s different return and exchange policy triggered fresh anger among Chinese consumers on Sina Weibo. Subsiding Social Media Crisis On December 9, 2021, Canada Goose posted a first detailed statement (Appendix B, Figure B3) and updated return and exchange policy on their official Weibo account page (Appendix B, Figure B4). Their statement read, Canada Goose sincerely appreciates the support of consumers, and will continue to strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations, while providing high-quality products and customer experience. With the guidance and help of @Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee, our company has updated and optimised the "Canada Goose Return and Exchange Service Commitment in Mainland China" to provide consumers with detailed after-sales guidance. Our company will continue to expand and improve consumer experience. In addition, our company will also continue to cooperate with the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission to explore more ways to improve consumer satisfaction under the framework of Chinese laws and regulations, combined with industry practices. Thanks again for the guidance and supervision of the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee and the feedback from all walks of life. Canada Goose sincerely looks forward to joining hands with consumers to start more journeys together, thank you! Stable State After Social Media Crisis After Canada Goose made their official detailed statement on December 9, 2021, the social media crisis came to an end in the days following the statement. The events most responsible for triggering the social media crisis started with an unsatisfied customer of Canada Goose in Shanghai, China, and continued until the escalation stage, where a Weibo group, ‘I want to complain-thoughtful Shanghai’ published a morning news report on Sina Weibo based on the customer complaint. After the publication of this report, which generated 450 million views and 19,000 discussions, the crisis became viral on Chinese social media. The following two sections take a netnographic look at consumer emotions and their related association which amplified the Social Media Crisis (particularly in the "escalation stage") and analyse the consequences of the crisis for Canada Goose, based on secondary data. Netnographic Data Collection & Analysis When the Canada Goose news story broke out on Sina Weibo, millions of Weibo users read the story and thousands took part in the discussion, which was then picked up by the Chinese and world media and reported widely. The sites for the netnographic study; Sina Weibo, Baidu, and South China Morning Post were selected based on the six criteria outlined by Kozinets ( 2010 , p. 89), which are, (1) relevant to the research questions; (2) active, with recent and regular communications; (3) interactive (4) substantial, in terms of numbers of users; (5) diverse, involving different participants; and (6) data rich. Adopting from the steps & outcomes of the human-driven netnography research process outlined in Netnography Unlimited (Kozinets & Gambetti, 2020 , p.185), first relevant keywords were identified around the topic of Canada Goose for searching content online. In stage 1, relevant content was identified using search engines and sources were listed and prioritised for further research. In stage 2, 3,000 user generated posts were read and identified, and 350 of those were scraped manually for analysis, after translating them from Simplified Chinese to English using Google Translate. In stage 3, after thoroughly reading all the stored content and using an inductive analysis approach, 23 initial codes (Figure F1) were generated, resulting in 350 coded comments. In stage 4, to generate topic clusters, 350 coded comments were further grouped according to patterns of like meaning. In the final stage, themes were identified, and cross-checking was performed to generate in-depth insight. The coding scheme (Appendix F) was used, with names of the 23 codes (Figure F1), sample of code definitions (Figure F2), coded sample (Figure F3), an example of excluded material (Figure F4), a few examples of included material (Figure F5), and how to identify a theme using direct interpretation research materials and using pattern matching and time-series analytical techniques for the analysis (Figure F6). Comments with only symbols like, , were excluded from the chosen sample and comments with content were included. As majority of comments were of highly nationalistic tone, special care has been taken to ensure that choice of blog posts to which user generated content was posted did not have a sample of posts which is biased into the direction of purely nationalistic in nature. After identifying user generated content in Stage 1 and selecting user generated content in Stage 2; in Stage 3, content analysis was conducted using an inductive approach, which allowed the researcher to create own coding classifications based directly on user posts observed. Content analysis helped identify the presence of certain words, themes, and theoretical concepts within user generated comments and helped analyse the presence, meanings, and relationships of such certain words, themes, and theoretical concepts (Content Analysis Method and Examples | Columbia Public Health, n.d.). The data set was first copied on an excel file and after thoroughly reading each user comment, 23 initial codes were generated which resulted in 350 coded comments. To test for reliability of coding, a 2nd Coder was employed to code a subset of posts. A total of 101 posts out of 350 were randomly selected and coded independently by the 1st Coder (the author) and the 2nd Coder. Comparing those 101 coded comments, inter-coder reliability scores were generated for each code. Table 3 shows the name of the codes, their definitions, a few samples of user generated posts related to each code, and inter-coder reliability score. Finally, in those cases where 1st and 2nd coders disagreed, they both re-visited the comments and code definitions and came to a common understanding and agreement. Based on this exercise, the 1st coder re-coded 1.125% of the total coded comments in the master file. Table 3 Code Name Code Definition Operationa-lization User Comment Examples Inter-Coder Reliability Score Sentiment Sentiment towards Canada Goose 1 = Very negative, 2 = Negative, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Positive. 5 = Very positive 1 = A market that relies on us to continue, eats the dividends of the Chinese market, but dares to treat our consumers with such a "double standard", and now I change my mouth and refuse to accept returns. Who gave Canada Goose such arrogance? 2 = Reject this brand 3 = Support domestic products[yeah] 4= Quality and Service Take the Throne! It's hard not to support! Pearson's correlation between the two sets of sentiment = 0.5927 Using Abusive/Hate language and/or Presenting false Information Undesired and unsubstantiated user-generated content on social media, against CG or Canada or foreign brands/foreigners (except against the Chinese population), which may include spreading false information and using abusive/hate language 1 = yes there is evidence 0 = no evidence. (Keywords examples: kill them, kick them out, pigs, scammers, scumbags, shameless, grilled and eaten, duck down etc.) 1. Punish it to death 2. Canada goose grilled and eaten 3. Canadian poor, wait for China to give you something to eat. 97% Blaming Canada Goose Blames Canada Goose based on either service, policy, quality, or combination of those 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. This has nothing to do with a "nationalist" backlash and everything to do with customer service. Returns are expected for a high-end brand. 2. Is this store selling fakes as real, otherwise how could this happen? 89% Blaming Chinese Customer(s) Blames the customer directly or indirectly and implies that they used the fake product to return/exchange in the Canada Goose store) 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. foreigners don't know that someone will buy fakes for real ones, which is to fill the loopholes[good] 2. Aren't you afraid to return the fake goose? 3. I really don't mean to be malicious to my compatriots. It's true that most of them are not bad for money. They are very good at exploiting and taking advantage. This really has nothing to do with having money or not. Upbringing issues. 96% Blaming Government Blames the local government saying either they are lenient towards foreign brands like CG, or ither they are asking the government to take action against CG or implying that consumer laws should be stricter) 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. Is this dishonourable? This is a violation of Chinese law. If it were a democratic beacon country, it would have been punished by hundreds of billions of dollars earlier. 2. Has the person in charge of the competent department died? 97% Canada Goose has Bad Quality Blames the quality of CG products 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. Just expensive enough, nothing else matters... It doesn't matter if you break a hole and don't keep warm, the most important thing is expensive enough! ! Poor quality! 2.Who gave Canada Goose such arrogant confidence when he changed his mind and refused to accept the return? When there is a quality problem in the product, consumers have the right to request repairs, replacements, returns, etc. 95% Criticises Price Blames price saying either CG is too expensive, rich Chinese buy CG, or something in their comments indicate that they made a direct or indirect reference to high price of CG products 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. More expensive but different policy compared to other countries 2. Just expensive enough, nothing else matters... It doesn't matter if you break a hole and don't keep warm, the most important thing is expensive enough! ! Poor quality! 90% Blames Chinese Population overall Blames the Chinese population (E.g., Criticizing others for buying a foreign brand like CG and/or attacking other Chinese because of extreme nationalistic view) 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Key words example, rich people, too much money, licking foreigners, people are stupid, rich, without skin, etc.) 1. Really speechless, another foreign brand that comes to China to make money and arrogant, do you really think we are this big money? People are stupid and have a good temper.[sweat][sweat][sweat] 2. Chinese people who worship foreigners, people look down on people like you! ! 94% Poor Customer Service Blames or criticises customer service of CG) 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. This has nothing to do with a "nationalist" backlash and everything to do with customer service. Returns are expected for a high end brand. 2. I don't know why the domestic store is like this. The goose I bought in the United States can be returned within a month as long as the tag is not picked. I had to wear it for 20 days and then return it. The clerk didn't ask a word and returned it to me quickly and with a good attitude. It was very natural and smooth, and it was obviously a routine operation. 93% Blaming Bloggers Blames other commenters/users (Thinks argument presented by other commenters is incorrect or not valid, or criticises them for spreading negative publicity) 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. Please check, 7 days goods exchange is the Chinese government's own policy. Please don't use this single case of consumer complaint to stir up a nationalistic emotion, it would harm Chinese people 's mind and its intolerance society. 2. Right, build the wall higher. No need for anything to impact the hearts and minds from outside the border. The Middle Kingdom is the world. Sounds a bit like NK 96% CG follows Double Standard (Discrimination) Thinks CG follows double standards, or thinks CG has different rules for the Chinese consumers than consumers in Canada, or CG discriminates against the Chinese) 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Key words: Double standard, discrimination, different policy compared to Canada, racist etc.) 1. More expensive but different policy compared to other countries 2. Obviously it is discrimination against Chinese consumers! There is no need for such a company to exist in China! 3. Don’t think about it, Canada Goose’s sales in China account for a large proportion, but even this can’t stop people from double-standarding the Chinese market. 97% CG Violated Chinese Law/s Thinks CG violated or didn't abide by the local Chinese laws/consumer laws 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Key words: Consumer rights/protection, legal, law, rights, clause etc.) 1. does not meet the legal requirements of China's seven-day unreasonable return and return of goods and quality problems 2. This unilateral clause conflicts with the Consumer Protection Law, but the Consumer Protection Law is the first clause, so this is invalid 97% Calls for Boycott CG Asking for or suggesting boycotting Canada Goose products 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Key words: Boycott, don't buy, won't buy, abandon etc.) 1. Chinese people stand up, if you don't buy it, can you still die? 2. Resolutely resist, anyway, it is imported, there are no foundries and production lines in China, and it has no impact on China's employment and exports. 96% CG is Arrogant Thinks Canada Goose or its response is arrogant 1 = there is evidence, 0 = no evidence (Arrogant/Bully/Proud/Confident/Shameless/Insincere) 1. Why are you so bold, because it is too difficult for ordinary people to defend their rights, and even if they are fined, they will not make more profit for one day[doge] 2. Who gave Canada Goose such arrogant confidence when he changed his mind and refused to accept the return? When there is a quality problem in the product, consumers have the right to request repairs, replacements, returns, etc. 96% Calls to Close Canada Goose Asking to shut down Canada Goose stores in China 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Key words: Get out, etc.) 1. Such products, such terms, why let him sell in China? ? ? 2. Obviously it is discrimination against Chinese consumers! There is no need for such a company to exist in China! 97% Supports Domestic Supports Domestic (Chinese Brands/Products) 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Except "Bosideng" because "Bosideng" has a separate code) 1. Support domestic products[yeah] 2. it is everyone's responsibility to support domestic products 3. Can I not buy it? Regardless of whether it's a Canada goose or a chicken, I don't follow the trend, I just wear domestic products that cost about 100 yuan and still spend the winter! 92% Anti Foreign Criticises foreign brands/products by saying not to buy foreign brands, or blaming foreign brands, or showing dislike towards foreigners 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Key words: Foreign, foreigners, etc.) 1. When buying down jackets, look at the amount of down and what kind of down, and then look at the style and fabric workmanship. The brand is not important. You have to sort out these foreign ones. 2. This is not a time when a foreign brand treats Chinese customers differently! Countless foreign companies are like this, including Disney! why? Just because there are too many brainless supporters in China buying their products! 94% Pro Foreign Talks about foreign Policies/culture/customer service etc. or uses foreign best practices as an example) 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Key words: United States, etc.) 1. foreigners don't know that someone will buy fakes for real ones, which is to fill the loopholes[good] 2. It is possible that what I say will be insulting, but we cannot ignore why they support unconditional returns for almost all products because their customers will not deliberately cheat, will not borrow and use it and return it, will not use money laundering, etc., so People's shopping malls are not afraid to say more[laugh cry] 99% Bosideng Supports or praises local brand "Bosideng" 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Key word: Bosideng) 1. To tell the truth, it is not as good as Bosideng, just because it is an imported brand, it can sell tens of thousands, and my brain is flooded! ! 2. I choose Bosideng for down, it is very comfortable, no problem at minus 35 degrees in the northeast 100% Seeks Justice Thinks CG should be punished (as per the laws) because it is in violation of local Chinese laws 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. This kind of enterprise needs punitive education, and it must be corrected. 2. deal with according to law 3. Such arrogant companies should be punished. Instead of queuing at the door to limit the flow of entry 100% Anti Canada The comment indicates some sort of dislike/animosity towards Canada 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence (Key word: Law, Punitive, Punish, etc.) 1. It is their own business whether Ms. Jia who is Canadian or who is planning to become a Canadian citizen buys Canadian goods without refund. The media consumer protection association is nosy, and the real Chinese will not buy it. 2. There are still people buying Canadian products 98% Anti China Indicates that Chinese use fake products to return/exchange or fake products are available in the Chinese market or Chinese people are not trustworthy or criticises the Chinese government policies directly or indirectly or criticises local brand Bosideng or uses objective and factual tone, which may be considered anti-popular or anti-national 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. To be honest, it is very necessary to rectify the imitation factories, so as to protect the rights and interests of consumers. - In a market flooded with fakes, merchants dare not accept returns. Big goose is so similar[Yun sad][Yun sad] 2. It was also possible to return and exchange it normally before, but there was a period when many Chinese bought fake products and returned them, but they did not return them later. 99% Makes General Comment Makes General Comment (Which has nothing do with the issue) For example: I don't have money, never heard of CG 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. I'm not boycotting it, I just can't afford it. Not only can't afford the big goose, but most clothes in the mall can't afford it now. 2. I just don't count 97% The Sentiment Analysis of a chosen sample of user posts by two independent coders, using 5-point Likert scale, showed negative sentiment towards Canada Goose, which was quite expected. The individual code count (Fig. 15 ) showed that Blaming Canada Goose topped the list, with presence in 118 posts out of 350. It was then followed by ‘Using abusive/hate language’ with 62 counts, ‘Calls for boycott CG’ with 58 counts, ‘Blames Chinese Population Overall’ with 54 counts, ‘Criticises Price’ with 32 counts etc. Many of those who blamed the Chinese population used the expensive price of Canada Goose as a reference to criticise their fellow citizens as stated in this post, “Jia, Goose [note: Jia is the customer, whose name (or a nick name) appeared in all the published media] tells the Chinese people with facts that the expensive ones are not necessarily good ones! Be careful! The cheapest price is five or six thousand [note, Chinese Renmimbi, approximately CAD 1050] , and at this price, you can buy several pieces from other brands! This kind of rubbish, you should not buy it, just let it go out of business” In stage 4, to generate topic clusters, 350 coded comments were further grouped according to patterns of similar meaning. The constant comparison of data and previous development of initial codes were used to create a higher-level understanding and classifications. The process of constant comparison began with comparing 350 coded comments with each other and revisiting the original data. The comparison provided the ability to find and link commonalities and develop topics. The codes with similar meaning were grouped together under the emerging topics (Table 4 ). Table 4 Sr No Topic Name Codes under the topic User Comment Examples 1 Thinks Canada Goose is arrogant, or uses discriminatory/double standard policy against Chinese and should be punished or closed 1.CG follows Double Standard (Discrimination) 2.CG is Arrogant 3.Close Canada Goose 4.Calls for Boycott CG 1. Obviously it is discrimination against Chinese consumers! There is no need for such a company to exist in China! 2. "Since you are ""arrogant and double standard"", I will let you ""goose feathers all over the place""![weak]" 2 Thinks Canada Goose is in violation of local laws and/or should be punished 5.CG Violated Chinese Law/s 6. Seeks Justice 7. Blaming Government 1. " Isn't the word ""proud"" too soft? Violating the legitimate rights and interests of consumers" 2. The Market Supervision Bureau will take action when it should 3 Expresses clear anger or frustration against those who buys foreign brand products 8. Blames Chinese Population Overall 9. Criticizes Price 1. I don't know what the person who bought it is looking for? Does it fail the inspection? Is it worth that much for one logo? 2.Too many people with money are stupid 4 Supports domestic Chinese brands 10. Supports Domestic 11. Bosideng 1. Anta down jacket is the first choice for keeping warm and cheap! 2. "Bosideng is not fragrant, buy this broken brand" [note: Since the customer accused CG jacket had a pungent smell, the blogger refers to local competitor brand, Bosideng, and asks sarcastically, “Don’t you think Bosideng is better than CG?” ] 5 Undesired and unsubstantiated user-generated content on social media; including creation and spreading of false information and using abusive language 12.Using Abusive/Hate language and/or Presenting false Information 13. Anti Canada 14. Anti Foreign 1. Don't kill the poor 2. "Don't call it Canada Goose, just call it Canada scumbag" 6 Makes General Comment N/A 1. Today a colleague wore it and was teased for a long time[not easy] [note: This comment was made on a day when CG was one of the hottest trending topics on Sina Weibo. The blogger talks about how their colleague was mocked when came to work wearing CG brand ] 2. Poverty keeps me away from this brand 7 Uses objective and factual tone, which may be considered anti-popular or anti-nationalistic 15. Blaming Chinese Customer(S) 16. Blaming Bloggers 17. Pro Foreign 18. Anti China There can be no legal issues here on the grounds of discrimination. Because there is no national law in the world that can stipulate that enterprise products must have a unified sales policy. Chinese companies can't do it either. If you go to the United States, it is much cheaper to make in China than to buy it in China. China also provides fuel to Vietnam and North Korea cheaper than domestically. […]. The economic law is irresistible. 8 Blames Canada Goose based on either service, policy, quality, or combination of those 19. Blaming Canada Goose 20. Canada Goose has Bad Quality 21. Poor Customer Service 1. "To be fair though, if you google what the incorrect logo stitching looked like, you'd probably want to return it too. It wasn't off by just a bit, something you don't expect from a luxury brand. " 2. In fact, the store is still unable to return or exchange for no reason within 7 days. The reply from the Shanghai IFC store today. really shameless In the final coding stage, after identifying nuances of meaning (topics) in groups and determining theme names based on those meaning and organization, five clearly defined themes were identified from the topic clusters: Grassroots Nationalism, Consumer Fairness Seeking, Anti-Nationalistic Voice, Consumer Animosity, and Spreading of False Information and/or Using Abusive/Hate Language. Table 5 below shows the relationship between the themes and topics, while Table 6 provides theme definitions, operationalization, user comment examples and 2nd Coder reliability score. Table 5 Sr No Themes and Topics Relation 1 Chinese Grassroots Nationalism Expresses clear anger or frustration against those who buys foreign brand products Thinks Canada Goose is arrogant, or uses discriminatory/double standard policy against Chinese and should be punished or closed Supports domestic Chinese brands 2 Consumer Fairness Seeking Blames Canada Goose based on either service, policy, quality, or combination of those Thinks Canada Goose is in violation of local laws and/or should be punished 3 Anti-Nationalistic Voice Anti China Makes General Comment 4 Spreading of false information and/or using abusive/hate language Anti Foreign 5 Consumer Animosity Anti Canada Table 6 Theme Name Theme Definition Operationalization User Comment Example 2nd Coder Reliability Score Anti-Nationalistic Voice Opposed to one's own nation; unpatriotic or making logical/factual argument with opposing views 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. foreigners don't know that someone will buy fakes for real ones, which is to fill the loopholes[good] 2. You may not believe it, but all managers and decision-makers in Big Goose China are Chinese. In fact, Chinese people discriminate against Chinese people. Because my aunt's son upstairs belongs to this company. He came back from studying in the United States and is now working as a big goose. He just told me about it at night.[Yun sad] 91% Spreading of false information and/or using abusive/hate language Undesired and unsubstantiated user-generated content on social media, against CG or Canada or foreign brands/foreigners (except against the Chinese population), which may include spreading false information and using abusive/hate language 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. Goose eating is too ugly 2. kill him 3. eat goose 94% Consumer Animosity Consumer Animosity represents either discomfort towards foreign goods, services and brands originating in countries with which there is some kind of conflict, or rejection of products or services from those conflict countries. Here, "Animosity" denotes hatred specifically towards ‘Canada’ due to historical, economic, political, or cultural factors and name ‘Canada’ would explicitly appear in data 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. Canada is about to capsize 2. Canada is too shameless 3. Canada is the younger brother of the mould country, and is as obedient as a dog. 98% Grassroots Nationalism Using social media to protest against a foreign brand. Historical memories, and current events, can be driving factors for grassroots nationalism and its influence on the foreign brands. Chinese grassroots nationalism contains a strong antiforeign sentiment and a victim complex. 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. you are right, you must support domestic products and starve foreign powers to death. 2. Exit the Chinese market! As long as the Chinese people with a little face will not be buying your stuff! 3. If "Canada Goose" is still lost in self-delusion and doesn't want to make progress, then the rest can only be "one place goose feathers" 86% Consumer Fairness Seeking Consumers express that they want to be treated equally and fairly, in terms of: domestic fairness- where they have certain service/quality expectation from a local luxury brand; and international fairness- where they expect to be treated equally like other foreign customers. 1 = there is evidence & 0 = no evidence 1. Making money in China does not comply with Chinese laws, what the heck 2. More expensive but different policy compared to other countries 86% Table 7 October 27, 2021 A customer bought a down jacket from Canada Goose (CG) store in Shanghai, China and asked to sign ‘no return’ clause Trigger Events October 28, 2021 The customer went back to the CG store to return the jacket, but CG refused Trigger Events/ Local Response November 14, 2021 The customer complained to CG by an email Local Response November 15, 2021 CG responded to customer by an email Local Response November 30, 2021 A Weibo group, ‘I want to complain-thoughtful Shanghai’ published a report about this issue and CG SMBC started/ Going Viral Escalation Stage/ Dissemination of Social Media Crisis December 1, 2021 CG posted a copy of return/exchange policy on its official Weibo page Canada Goose Primary Response December 1, 2021 Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee interviewed CG Mitigation Efforts with Government December 2 & 3, 2021 Sina Technology on Weibo claimed CG exclusively responded to them Involvement of State & Global Media December 5, 2021 Global Times reported some other luxury brands following double standard policy against Chinese consumers Escalation to other Western luxury brands December 9, 2021 CG on its Weibo page officially responded and posted updated policy Subsiding Social Media Crisis/ Stable State The final stage theme count (Fig. 16 ) showed ‘Grassroots Nationalism’ emerged as the dominant theme with 46% presence in 350 chosen posts, followed by ‘Anti- Nationalist Voice’ with 17.14% of presence, ‘Consumer Fairness Seeking’ with 15.43% of presence, ‘Spreading of false information and/or using abusive/hate language’ with 14.6% of presence, and ‘Consumer Animosity’ with 6.86% presence. The research findings show the strong presence of modern form of Chinese Nationalism, called Grassroots Nationalism, where 46% of Chinese netizens used social media platforms to show support of domestic Chinese brands, to express their anger and frustration against Canada Goose customers for buying their expensive products, to express their strong anti-foreign sentiments because of the perceived double standard/discriminatory policy of Canada Goose against Chinese, and demanding punishment for and closure of Canada Goose. 17% of user posts in this finding was anti-nationalistic voice. Majority of those posters spoke truth voicing their unbiased opinion. For example, one of the Weibo posts coded earlier as Anti China and emerged as anti-nationalistic voice read, “To be honest, it is very necessary to rectify the imitation factories, so as to protect the rights and interests of consumers. - In a market flooded with fakes, merchants dare not accept returns. Big goose is so similar.” It is important to recognize here that counterfeiting has grown from a small industry to $1.7 trillion in value. “Counterfeiting has gone from a small industry to a $1.7 trillion problem this year,” said Craig Crosby, publisher of the Counterfeit Report, in an interview. “What product isn’t counterfeit? That’s the question. This holiday return scam has permeated the retail business as well as the online ecommerce industry” (Takahashi, 2015 ). To deal with the counterfeit scam, the Counterfeit Report, an independent publication that publishes counterfeit information from 250 global manufacturers stated that consumers should avoid making online purchases from China. Consequences Of Social Media Crisis It is evident from the literature review that negative brand information can damage Brand Image, and Canada Goose also acknowledged that any negative publicity related to the perceived quality and safety of their products could harm their brand image (Figure D1). Findings of this research paper uncovered that Canada Goose did experience substantial amount of negative publicity during the crisis. Therefore, based on all these factors, it seems likely that the 2021 Social Media Brand Crisis of Canada Goose did harm its perceived Brand Image, at least for the time of the crisis and among certain consumer groups in China. If so, though, this did not translate in an apparent loss in sales in China, actually, sales rose inspite or maybe even because of the Social Media Crisis. Canada Goose’s reported revenue showed (Appendix C, Figure C1) that DTC revenue in mainland China increasing 35.1% (Canada Goose Reports Results for Third Quarter Fiscal 2022 and Revised Fiscal 2022 Outlook | Canada Goose Inc., n.d.) in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2022 (for the quarter ended January 2, 2022). This is an important finding considering the social media brand crisis of Canada Goose was reported as one of the biggest trending topics of 2021 on Sina Weibo (Koetse, 2021 ) and one would have expected loss in sales after experiencing so much negative publicity. However, there are number of reasons based on which it is possible to conclude that DTC revenue increase of 35.1% in China is justified. First, the data findings reported in Table 2 shows that only 17 popular hashtags on Sina Weibo created over 1.1Billiion views about Canada Goose, Canada Goose was one of the hottest trending topics on Sina Weibo in 2021, and Canada Goose was reported widely in the Chinese print and television media. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that Canada Goose brand awareness increased substantially in China in 2021 resulting in increased revenue. Second, literature review of consumer nationalism showed that in 2003, Ogilvy & Mather, reported in their research an interesting finding dubbed “Patriot’s Paradox” that desire for Western brands among China’s youth is sufficiently strong to override patriotic sentiments unlike older consumers. Moreover, analysis of Sina Weibo and their user profile revealed that majority of Weibo users are young, within age group of 18–29, compared to total online population. Because Canada Goose is considered a well-known western brand in China and around the world with majority of young customer base, it can be concluded that Chinese youth, including Weibo users, continued buying Canada Goose products regardless of SMBC. Number of Chinese social media sources and financial websites reported that Canada Goose’s stock prices dropped because of the customer return controversy (Figure C2, C3, C4). On December 3, the financial world reported that Canada Goose's stock price fell sharply again. Yingwei Finance showed that the company's shares fell 4.53% on Thursday to $39.41. With the fermentation of the return turmoil, Canada Goose's stock price has fallen by 26.53% from its high of $53.64 on November 16, and its market value has evaporated by more than $1.5 billion (Lu, 2021 ) One of the trending hashtags on Sina Weibo was #CanadaGoose's market value has shrunk by over 8 billion# (In simplified Chinese #加拿大鹅市值缩水超80亿#). It stated, Canada Goose's stock price began to decline, especially after the recent negative events fermented, Canada Goose continued to plummet, and on December 1 (Wednesday), it fell by 7.42%, and finally closed at $41.28. The last 10 days cumulative decline has reached 22.23%, and the market value has shrunk by a maximum of 1.32 billion US dollars (equivalent to about 8.4 billion yuan) (Source: Sina Weibo) To verify the drop in stock price, using stockanalysis.com, it was found that there was a sharp decline in the Canada Goose’s stock price during the period of November 30th, 2021-December 3, 2021, as shown in Fig. 17 . However, this decline already started around November 15, 2020 and continued all the way until end of March, 2022. Incidentally, in December 2018, CBC news reported (Appendix E, Figure E1) similar stock market impact on the Canada Goose shares, when Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese technology giant Huawei inc. was detained in Canada. The news stated, “Canada Goose shares have fallen for five days in a row after the outdoor apparel maker has become a target of Chinese consumers upset by the arrest of a high-ranking technology executive in Canada” (Evans, 2018 ). While the stocks of Canada Goose did drop during the peak of the crisis period, it cannot be concluded with certainty that this decline was due to the social media crisis in China. There could have been several other external factors responsible for this decline, and it would require more in-depth analysis to reach any conclusion. Such an indepth analysis of the reactions and assumptions of investors and other capital-market participants goes beyond the scope of this research paper. Discussion Summary By analysing the case of Canada Goose in China using the case study approach, the research has uncovered how a seemingly routine store-level return/refund transaction failed and resulted into the social media brand crisis. Unlike in Canada, where Canada Goose has a flexible return/refund policy of 30 days, it had only 7 days return policy in China based on the local laws. The combination of perceived differential treatment and failure of a high expected standard of service from a luxury brand like Canada Goose, made the customer feel frustrated and resorted to complaining on social media. As identified by the research, the social media brand crisis proceeds along the eleven discernible stages. The initial stages were trigger events and local responses before the issue reached social media. The moment the issue became public on social media, escalation and dissemination of the crisis began, followed by mitigation efforts from Canada Goose and involvement of the local Chinese government. The crisis then became a hottest trending topic on social media, and picked up by state and global media, escalating it even further into other western luxury brands. Finally, the crisis started subsiding when the indirect news of Canada Goose agreeing to revise its return/refund policy started circulating on social media and reached a stable state after Canada Goose officially announced the revised policy. The netnographic and secondary data analysis found the Chinese grassroots nationalistic emotions, combined with consumer fairness seeking emotions and emotions resulting from pre-existing animosity towards Canada, were primarily responsible for fuelling the social media crisis. The study also uncovered that Sina Weibo facilitated fuelling of the crisis. Furthermore, it was observed that consumer associations like blaming Canada Goose for double standard treatment, charging high price with inferior quality, showing arrogance, not following local Chinese policies, and poor customer service were related to consumer fairness seeking emotions. On the other hand, consumer associations like blaming the Chinese population for buying Canada Goose products, showing support for domestic brands, strong anti foreign sentiments, and asking to boycott or closure of Canada Goose in China were related to grassroots nationalism based emotions. There was also a significant presence of abusive and hate language toward Canada Goose, pointing towards Chinese cancel culture phenomenon. This phenomenon could have collectively resulted from grassroots nationalism, pre-existing consumer animosity towards Canada, and fairness seeking emotions. One of the consequences of the social media brand crisis was increased brand awareness, resulting potentially in increased DTC revenue of 35.1% on a medium-term basis. Since the short-term sales data was unavailable, it was not possible to analyse and report it. Overall, Canada Goose stocks dropped substantially on both a short and medium-term basis. However, it was not possible to establish any relation between the social media crisis and the drop in stocks, because of the limited scope of this research. Because the crisis generated a significant amount of negative publicity and was reported extensively by the Chinese and global media, it must have negatively impacted its perceived global brand image. Theoretical Implications This study provides a rich and contextualised understanding of the social media brand crisis of a global brand in China through the intensive study of the Canada Goose case in 2021. It represents an essential step towards understanding how combined effect of grassroots nationalism, consumer animosity and consumer fairness seeking emotions could have led to the social media brand crisis of a foreign brand in China. The research provides a distinct perspective, since it is focused on a global brand originating from Canada, unlike prior studies which were based on the experiences of foreign brands from Japan, United States, Germany etc., in China. The study identifies various stages associated with social media brand crisis and highlights their relative importance in the crisis. The study was able to distinguish between the consumer nationalism and grassroots nationalism, which is primarily an extension of Chinese consumer nationalism in the digital space. Using robust case study approach and performing in-depth analysis using netnography and secondary sources of data, the study was able to identify and distinguish between Chinese grassroots nationalism, consumer animosity, and consumer fairness seeking emotions resulting from different service standards between home country of a foreign brand in China. In particular, the study was able to identify that Sina Weibo not only acted as a facilitator of the social media crisis, but also significantly intensified the speed and reach of the crisis. The study observed that combined effect of grassroots nationalism, consumer animosity, and consumer fairness seeking emotions could have collectively resulted into the Chinese “cancel culture” phenomenon. Recently, during the pandemic, numerous trends have merged to nurture a cancel culture in China that distinguishes from countries like the U.S., where cancellations generally limit around perceived racist and sexual offenses. Like all of China’s cancel culture examples (Table 1 ), it can be said that any foreign brand making a minor or perceived insult at a time of heightened nationally sensitive issue, would be subjected to social media crisis and brand cancellation. Lastly, the findings of this single-case study have the potential to draw analytic generalisation, and theoretical concepts of grassroots nationalism, consumer animosity, and consumer fairness seeking have the potential to address the external validity test of this research study. Managerial Implications Since a luxury brand like Canada Goose is relatively recognized by Chinese consumers and quite popular among them, it is necessary for relevant enterprises to reflect on the problems arising in internal management in a timely manner and make choices that are ethical and more in line with the best business practices. When the customer went back to return the item on October 28, it should have been a routine store level return/exchange transaction for a global luxury brand like Canada Goose. Nevertheless, this was not the case and instead resulted in a social media brand crisis. As reported earlier, counterfeiting is a huge burden for retailers and consumers as it can damage the retailers’ reputation and destroy the consumers’ confidence. One cannot overlook the fact that fake luxury products are more readily available in many countries outside of North America, and that luxury brands have a legitimate interest in protecting themselves and their honest customers from fraudulent returns and higher prices resulting from the costs of such fraudulent returns. Undeniably, there has been a trend among many luxury brands in many countries to be cautious with their return policy. Since on the official website of Canada Goose, it made a clear promise to return goods without reason within 30 days, so ethically this promise should be aimed at all customers around the world, including China, and they should not discriminate between customers in different countries regardless of sales effects or risks of returns. When operating in China, it is important for a foreign brand to quickly get past social media crisis by making deliberate choices that show an understanding of the market; importantly, to immediately issue an apology when a scandal hits. As more and more global brands expand into the Chinese market, and because of China’s ongoing bitter relationship with Western countries, means that this type of social media brand crisis is likely to become more frequent in the years ahead. Limitations And Future Directions The data collection for this study depended significantly on Sina Weibo, hence the findings of this study are not generalizable to all social media conversations happening among Chinese social media users during Canada Goose’s social media brand crisis. As Sina Weibo is heavily censored, many of the Weibo posts were deleted even before data collection began, restricting the access to these posts. The research depended heavily on the secondary sources of data, mainly published materials in Simplified Chinese, and had to rely on Google Translate for translating Simplified Chinese to English, and thus limiting the access to data. Since this research used a sample of 350 posts from different social media posters, for netnographic data collection and analysis, many of these posts might have come from a certain internet tribe and may not be representative of the whole universe of the Chinese market and Canada Goose customers. Unlike stage 3 and final stage, the topic clusters generated in stage 4 netnographic analysis were not checked for the inter-coder reliability score. This was mainly because the entire process was very time consuming, as it involved generating topic clusters by constant comparison of data and previously developed codes to generate a higher-level understanding and classification, and could not accommodate the assistance of a 2nd Coder. Finally, future research should focus on using quantitative survey design to understand which consumer emotions of Chinese social media users can fuel the social media brand crisis of a global brand. This would further strengthen the understanding the emotions and associations arising in such a social media crisis. Using sophisticated sentiment analysis and social media listening tools compatible with Sina Weibo and Simplified Chinese, one would be able to record different stages of consumer sentiments and discussion. For example, discussion happening during Trigger, Escalation, Dissemination, Mitigation, Subsiding and Stable stages. This individual stagewise analysis would further enhance the understanding of the crisis and help with appropriate response strategy. Lastly, future research should combine social media brand crises of two or three different brands in China to generalise the research findings. Declarations Acknowledgments "I would like to express my gratitude to my immediate supervisor, Dr. Andreas Strebinger (York University, Canada), and second reader, Dr. Manfred F Maute (York University, Canada), for their invaluable feedback, guidance, and support throughout the development of this major research paper. I would also like to acknowledge the financial support provided by York University, Canada, which made this research possible. This paper was written as part of the requirements for completing a Master of Science in Management Practice program, and I am grateful for the opportunity to pursue this degree." The author have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article References Aaker, D.A. (1991), Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name, The Free Press, New York, NY. Ahluwalia, R. and Gürhan-Canli, Z. 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Wwd , 2. http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/mckinsey-report-china-key-target-luxury-brands/docview/2319455624/se-2?accountid=15182 Supplementary Files Appendix.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-2829334","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":192758254,"identity":"6f1078b4-7e06-4563-9776-2826a7fd9ee2","order_by":0,"name":"Sanjay Jhaveri","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3407-058X","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sanjay","middleName":"","lastName":"Jhaveri","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-04-18 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15:34:48","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3796448,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2829334/v1/5b4e0a84-093b-4da7-a0f9-e15c94cebf5d.pdf"},{"id":36009953,"identity":"daa81c4c-01e8-4a1d-ac5d-269545b042c4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-04-19 15:10:39","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":4671030,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Appendix.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2829334/v1/77535e3eccd82e8361de1274.docx"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAntecedents, Sequence, and Consequences of Social Media Brand Crisis in China: The Case of Canada Goose 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe social media crisis of a foreign brand in China is one type of crisis when social media acts as an \u0026ldquo;alternative discursive space\u0026rdquo; for public expression, as well as trigger and facilitator for brand crises in China (Wang \u0026amp; Laufer, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). In 2012, when KFC China was accused of feeding growth hormones to chickens in the company's supply chain, it responded on the same day in its official microblog stating there was no evidence suggesting unethical or improper behaviour by their poultry supplier. However, regardless of KFC's statement, a microblog mocking KFC was widely circulated, blaming KFC for not apologizing for the crisis and resulting in a boycott of the brand (Wang \u0026amp; Laufer, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). As reported by (Gao, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e), global brands such as Nestle\u0026acute;, Toyota, Hewlett-Packard, P\u0026amp;G, Sony, and Johnson \u0026amp; Johnson have all become targets of such a crisis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the major complaints about foreign brands in China is that they discriminate against Chinese consumers and treat them differently from how they treat their customers in developed countries (Tian \u0026amp; Dong, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e). The brand crisis incidents reported in the 2007, China brand report, which was first of its kind, claimed that Chinese consumers were subjected to double standards, lower levels of customer service, inferior quality products, and stricter return exchange policies by western brands. For example, Carrefour, Toyota Reiz, P\u0026amp;G\u0026rsquo;s SK-II cosmetics, and Chivas 12-Year are all reported examples of Western brands that engaged in practices deemed disrespectful to Chinese consumers\u0026rdquo; (Tian \u0026amp; Dong, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;With the prevalence of internet and easy access to information about the outside world, Chinese consumers are more aware of various brands and consumers in other parts of the world, and desire and expect equal treatment from companies (especially those of famous brands) [\u0026hellip;]. Any perceived difference in product quality or \u0026ldquo;double standard in return/exchange policies\u0026rdquo; would be interpreted by Chinese consumers as a lack of respect and would invoke a sense of humiliation from the past. This is another illustration of Chinese consumers\u0026rsquo; viewing foreign brands as oppressors\u0026rdquo; (Yu 2007, 323, as cited in Tian \u0026amp; Dong, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn December 2021, Canada Goose experienced a social media crisis over its refund-policy in China and allegations Canada Goose was using double standards against Chinese customers became viral on social media (Griffiths, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs reported by the global times (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), on 27th of October 2021, a customer went to return a down jacket she bought from the Canada Goose store in Shanghai, China, claiming that the Canada Goose logo was incorrectly embroidered. The Canada Goose store refused to refund the money based on the company return/exchange policy and was later criticized by Chinese consumers over its controversial product refund policy and discriminatory double-standard operations in the Chinese mainland (Times, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is vital for luxury brands like Canada Goose to understand Chinese markets and Chinese consumers and be prepared, because China is poised to become the most important luxury brand markets by 2025. As reported in the McKinsey report, more than half of the global growth in luxury spending between 2012 and 2018 came from China, and by 2025, Chinese consumers will account for 40 percent of the world\u0026rsquo;s luxury spending (Zhang, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing the case of the Canada Goose Social Media Crisis in late 2021, this paper seeks to investigate how a Social Media Crisis of a global brand, caused by different service standards between home country and China, unfolds. Specifically, the research explores the following research questions:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eResearch Question:\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAre there discernible stages along which the crisis proceeds?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat events can trigger such a Social Media Crisis?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhich consumer emotions (e.g., grassroot nationalism, consumer animosity, consumer fairness seeking) can fuel the crisis on Social Media? What consumer associations are related to these emotions?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat can be consequences of such a Social Media Crisis (e.g., on brand image, sales, stock price) in short-term perspective and medium-term perspective?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e"},{"header":"Literature Review","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBrand and negative publicity\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince brands are considered an organisation\u0026rsquo;s most important asset, there has been considerable research into branding and related topics. Brand Equity, the total value of a brand, has been defined and measured by researchers in different ways (Aaker, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1991\u003c/span\u003e; Keller, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1993\u003c/span\u003e; Fetscherin, 2021). Accordingly, Aaker\u0026rsquo;s (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1991\u003c/span\u003e) brand equity model has brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality, brand loyalty and other proprietary assets as its five brand equity dimensions, while Keller\u0026rsquo;s (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1993\u003c/span\u003e) customer-based brand equity (CBBE) framework has brand awareness and brand image as two brand equity dimensions. Fetscherin\u0026rsquo;s (2021) Brand Wheel has brand equity as one of the core domains, along with brand identity and brand image. The Brand Wheel also attempts to conceptualise and visualise the most discussed branding concepts and underlying theoretical relationships into categories of cognitive (share of mind), affective (share of heart) and behavioural responses (share of voice and share of wallet), while integrating the nature of increasing intensities of these concepts (Fetscherin, 2021).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrands frequently deal with negative brand information through traditional media like television, radio, newspapers etc., and through modern media such as the internet, social media, smartphone apps, etc. Especially, the internet and social media have drastically increased the speed of negative brand information spread (Ward and Ostrom, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e). People now can face negative brand information more frequently than a decade ago (Eisingerich et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Negative publicity is a key part of negative brand information and has more serious effects than negative rumours or negative word of mouth (nWOM) because such negative information is usually confirmed and verified by authorities (Kim et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). Negative publicity often spreads through major media and it is generally believed to be more trustworthy than rumours and nWOM (Bond and Kirshenbaum, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e) and is easier to accept (Ahluwalia and G\u0026uuml;rhan-Canli, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2000\u003c/span\u003e). There are two types of negative publicity performance-related, which is negative brand information about functional aspects, like quality, of a brand; and value-related negative publicity, which is negative brand information about business practices or ethical issues (Dean, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e). As suggested by recent research, consumers may have a stronger negative response to value-related negative brand information (Liu and Sweeney, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Pulling et al., 2006).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrand image and brand attitude are two key components of brand equity, where brand attitude reflects a consumer\u0026rsquo;s evaluation of a brand (Keller, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1993\u003c/span\u003e), and is one of the most frequently studied theoretical concepts in negative brand information research (Um \u0026amp; Kim, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Negative brand information has a significant and direct negative effect on consumers\u0026rsquo; overall attitudes towards the affected brand (Dentoni et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). The prior studies have found that value-related negative publicity can harm brand attitude more than product related negative publicity (Liu and Kanso, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Where consumers are loyal to the brand and their prior brand attitude is held with a high level of certainty then negative publicity may not influence brand attitude (Pullig et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrand image (BI) is a consumer\u0026rsquo;s perception of specific brand attributes such as whether the brand is innovative, stylish, fashionable, etc., and BI is an important component of brand equity (Keller, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1993\u003c/span\u003e). Like brand attitude, negative brand information can also damage brand image (DeCarlo et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the important outcomes of brand equity is purchase intention. Past research has studied the impact of negative publicity on purchase intention and found that negative publicity and nWOM has negative effect on consumers\u0026rsquo; purchase intentions (Wyatt \u0026amp; Badger, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1984\u003c/span\u003e; Huang \u0026amp; Chen, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e) and/or their actual purchase behaviour (Liu, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSocial Media Brand Crisis\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndividuals need mediated and simplified accounts of reality to understand the world they live in and conceive the risks associated with their lifestyle and decisions (Beck, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1992\u003c/span\u003e). The role of mass media is important in a brand crisis, in terms of role towards the brand and towards the crisis, because of their tendency to construct dramatised accounts of crises and to amplify risks and fear as part of the constant effort to gain the media audience\u0026rsquo;s attention (McQuail, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e). In the old days, before the Internet existed, crises spread mostly by traditional mass media, such as newspapers, television, and radio, and traditional brand crisis research focused particularly on crises that resulted when consumers were harmed by a product (Chen et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e), when there was a service failure (Hoffman et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1995\u003c/span\u003e), when the company was complicit in a social failure situation (Folkes \u0026amp; Kamins, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e), or when it failed to communicate properly (Pullig et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eApart from crises that trigger negative publicity and produce symbolic effects for the organisation, crises in organisations are adverse events waiting to happen which are unavoidable for any organisation or a brand (Yannopoulou et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). In this regard, the communication of crises is critically influenced by mass media, because mainly through them that consumers can grasp knowledge about problems related to the brand and the characteristics of the crises. While the conventional literature on crises addressed crises as events and accidents (Fink, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1986\u003c/span\u003e; Mitroff et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1987\u003c/span\u003e), researchers later on defined crises as communication based phenomenon, associated with the projection of negative images in public setting and start a public process of risk construction and dissemination (Coombs, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e). Whenever there is a brand crisis, mass media play an important role in forming negative publicity, influencing communication, constructing dramatised accounts, amplifying risks and fear, making consumers aware about problems related to brand and nature of crisis, and gaining media audience\u0026rsquo;s attention (Yannopoulou et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost sets of mass media in a given national society are a chance result of historical growth due to technological advancement, either connected by a shared political-economic logic; like the free-enterprise media of the U.S or the state-run media of China (McQuail, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince media choose to report bad news more frequently than good news, it may seem possible that negative publicity attracts media attention (Dennis \u0026amp; Merrill, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e). Moreover, unlike positive information, negative information is anticipated to change consumers\u0026rsquo; knowledge about the brand, their brand trust, and their favourable brand associations (Dawar \u0026amp; Pillutla, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2000\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rise of social media has created a new condition for consumers to debate brand actions with each other, and such discussion often takes place in concurrence with coverage by traditional mass media (Hewett et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Unlike traditional brand crises, which were mainly driven by journalists' contributions, social media brand crises are aggregations of consumers' digital word of mouth (Hansen et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). There are systematic differences between face-to-face word of mouth, consumer reviews or electronic word of mouth, and social media word of mouth because of the differences in speed and reach of the messages (Hennig-Thurau et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). A message travelling through social media can reach far many consumers within a short time compared to the traditional medium.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eChinese Social Media: Sina Weibo\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn China, more and more people use the Internet to discuss various events in society, express their attitudes and opinions, and because of that has changed the way people in China communicate and interact with each other (Song et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Sina Weibo is a micro-blogging social media platform like Twitter. \u0026ldquo;Weibo is the \u0026ldquo;weibo\u0026rdquo; (\u0026ldquo;微博\u0026rdquo;, meaning microblog), a post analogous to a tweet, and users on Sina Weibo perform two main functions with weibos: they author weibos and they read weibos\u0026rdquo; (Littman et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Any Weibo user can create and post a feed; and any user can follow another user and add comments to a feed while reposting, and this asymmetric and distributed nature of Weibo allows an original feed to become a live viral conversation stream (Weibo, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith a user share of 46% and 573\u0026nbsp;million active users, Sina Weibo is currently ranked 10th in the world (Thomala, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). In China it is ranked 5th, preceded by Little Red Book, Baidu Tieba, WeChat, and Douyin (Social Media, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Sina Weibo users are more likely to live in megacities than other social media users, majority of them are 18\u0026ndash;29-year-old compared to the total online population, 53% of them are female, they have centrist political views, and on social media they interact with companies more often than other social media users (Social Media, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eService Failure And Recovery\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Service failure, or service breakdown, can be defined as a service that does not meet the customer\u0026rsquo;s expectations\u0026rdquo; (Sparks \u0026amp; Fredline, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). Consumers may have multiple responses to service failure, and some common examples are anger, complaint, regret, and disappointment (Sparks \u0026amp; Fredline, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). There are several responses that customers may have to service failure or poor service recoveries. The findings from the study conducted by Weun et al. showed that \u0026ldquo;service failure severity has a significant influence on satisfaction, trust, commitment, and negative word-of-mouth\u0026rdquo; (2004).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen a company engages in activities to address the service failure issue faced by a customer, it is called service recovery (Holloway \u0026amp; Beatty, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e). \u0026ldquo;When service failures occur, the recovery process is likely to have a greater impact on loyalty than the original service failure\u0026rdquo; (Buttle \u0026amp; Burton, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA service failure may trigger a brand crisis. For example, in June 2019, a controversial statement from an economist of Swiss bank UBC created a social media outburst in mainland China, causing serious trouble for the bank (Zaagman, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). When Japanese sports drink Pocari became the unofficial drink of choice for Hong Kong\u0026rsquo;s protest movement, after its Hong Kong branch removed advertising from a pro-Beijing TV station, it became a target of Chinese social outrage (Zaagman, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). In September 2020, when Swedish retailer H\u0026amp;M posted a statement of concern about forced labour in Xinjiang cotton on its website, there was a huge Chinese social media crisis for the brand (Friedman \u0026amp; Paton, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVarious consumer traits may exacerbated a brand crisis for companies from a different country. Consumers may already hold a \"grudge\" against a particular nation, called \"consumer animosity\". Consumers in a particular country may have generally nationalist and ethnocentric sentiments towards foreign brand which become apparent in the course of a brand crisis. On Social Media, such nationalistic sentiments are expressed as a grassroots nationalism which ultimately may result in a climate of Cancel Culture for foreign brands. Alternatively, consumers may develop negative emotions to brands applying different standards of customer service in different countries merely out of consumer fairness seeking, irrespective of the home country of the brand. The following sections reviews the literature on these consumer traits.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eConsumer Traits Fuelling Social Media Crises Of Foreign Brands\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eConsumer Animosity\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKlein et al. (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e) were the first to define consumer animosity as \u0026ldquo;remnants of antipathy related to previous or ongoing military, political or economic events\u0026rdquo;. They also stated that animosity towards another country might have many sources (Klein et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e). Consumers\u0026rsquo; choices vary in how they choose their animosity targets, and there can be various reasons behind their animosity feelings, such as economic, political, religious, or personal (Riefler \u0026amp; Diamantopoulos, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). According to Leong et al. (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e), whether animosities were based on historical perspectives or recent experiences, it would negatively affect consumer behaviour. The construct of consumer animosity has recently received more attention in consumer behaviour studies in both intra-national and international marketing settings (Leong et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e). Consumers\u0026rsquo; animosity can influence consumers\u0026rsquo; attitude towards all products from a particular country despite perceived quality, therefore consumers who hold any animosity would avoid purchasing any products related to an offending nation, even though the quality of products with that origin was not undervalued (Buss, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1961\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnimosities can be further divided into situational, stable, national, and personal, where situational animosities are temporary, based on some recent situation whereas stable animosities are long term in nature based on some historical perspective, national animosities are from a macro-perspective, and personal animosities are based on personal experiences (Riefler \u0026amp; Diamantopoulos, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). Along with the rise in economic protectionism and consumers\u0026rsquo; increasing ability to act on their animosity through social media, brands should act more cautiously so as not to be harmed by customers\u0026rsquo; country\u0026ndash;brand associations (Westjohn et al., 2019).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eConsumer Nationalism\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChinese nationalism first emerged in the late nineteenth century, when China experienced a series of humiliations in the hands of foreign powers (Zhao 2004, as cited in Gao, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;The concept of nationalism can include both a collective perspective, such as economic protectionism, autarchy, and cultural isolationism, and an individual perspective, such as voting behaviors and cultural cliches\u0026rdquo; (Balabanis et al., 2001, as cited in De Nisco et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Nationalist individuals show a tendency to be more competitive and militaristic, and believe in the superiority of their ingroup, while holding negative stereotypes of outgroups, which may be visible through their attitudes toward trade protection, restriction of foreign investment, restriction on the immigration of workers, and restriction of foreign firms and intellectual property (De Nisco et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the contrary, some of the important findings of the past research on Consumer Animosity show that antipathy toward a foreign country has a negative effect only on acceptance of products associated with it but is not related to product beliefs and animosity affects buying behavior directly rather than through cognitive beliefs (De Nisco et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsumer nationalism refers to consumers\u0026rsquo; invocation of their own national identity vis-\u0026agrave;-vis the perceived nationality of companies and brands to favour or reject products from certain countries (Wang, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). Wang further stated that consumer nationalism is not unique to any country, however, because the emotional power of nationalism is an important element of the Chinese market and because of China\u0026rsquo;s crucial role in today\u0026rsquo;s world economy; consumer nationalism plays a central role in Chinese consumers\u0026rsquo; relationship with global brands (2007). According to Wang and Wang, Chinese consumers\u0026rsquo; resistance to Western brands is driven by nationalistic motives as a symbolic gesture of loyalty to the nation state (2007). By rejecting the brands of other nations, consumers could become a barrier to international brands as they expand into the Chinese market, resulting in immediate financial loss due to boycotts and/or damage to brand image and reputation (Wang and Wang \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e, 136\u0026ndash;8). However, in 2003, transnational advertising agency, Ogilvy \u0026amp; Mather, reported an interesting finding dubbed \u0026ldquo;Patriot\u0026rsquo;s Paradox\u0026rdquo;, according to which Chinese youths who are the strongest patriots used Western brands almost as much as those with lesser feelings of nationalism; meaning desire for Western brands among China\u0026rsquo;s youth is sufficiently strong to override patriotic sentiments unlike older consumers (Wang \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e, 19).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn recent times, consumer nationalist outbursts towards foreign brands in China, because of the real or perceived offences to China, have reached a fever pitch (Zaagman, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). The Chinese government has also been playing a crucial role in triggering consumer nationalistic sentiments, since Chinese consumers are acting as an extension of their political agenda (Hong et al., n.d.).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGrassroots Nationalism\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLately, a new form of grassroots nationalism has emerged in China, which uses new technologies, like social media, to protest foreign brands (Gao, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Chinese grassroots nationalism contains a strong antiforeign sentiment and a victim complex, and because criticism of the government is rarely tolerated by the regime, Chinese nationalist find it much easier to lash out at foreign targets to release their anger (Gao, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile traditional research on nationalism has focused on influence from nations, governments, and elites neglecting the role of the public and grassroots\u0026rsquo; influence on nationalism, in the new Internet era nationalism is redefined as it allows the public to express freely relative independent personal beliefs; in particular the emergence of Weibo in 2009 drove China into the social media era generating new ways of social interaction, enhancing the frequency and influence of nationalism (Liu, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e, p.110).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorically, Chinese grassroots nationalism was reactive in nature, often caused by international events; however, after the advancement of the Internet in China, Chinese nationalists have discovered new ways to nurture their antiforeign sentiments online, using the Internet (Gao, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth historical memories and current events can be driving factors for the grassroots nationalism and its influence on the foreign brands, and in recent years reputation of the foreign brands have suffered serious setbacks due to widely publicised quality issues (Gao, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGao\u0026rsquo;s paper talks about how unprepared foreign companies in China are to deal with Chinese grassroots nationalism\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;So far, foreign companies appear to be ill prepared to deal with the ramifications of Chinese grassroots nationalism (Ogilvy \u0026amp; Mather Greater China 2008). Their routine responses are two-fold. When there are no crises, they sometimes actively mobilise nationalist appeals in their marketing materials (e.g., Kang 2008). However, when there are crises, they look for excuses, issue superficial apologies when they have to, or turn to the Chinese government for help (Lei 2010; Yu 2008)\u0026rdquo; (Gao \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e, p.188).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on the literature review of grassroots nationalism, it is possible to conclude that it is quite different from the previously reviewed construct of consumer animosity, because consumer animosity is always directed towards a specific target country (Appendix H, Figure H1) and there will always be an explicit mention of the target country in data (Riefler \u0026amp; Diamantopoulos, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eConsumer Ethnocentrism\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe theoretical concept of consumer ethnocentrism, which was first defined by Shimp and Sharma as the belief held by consumers about the propriety and morality of purchasing foreign products (1987). According to Klein et al. (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e) consumer animosity is a separate concept from consumer ethnocentrism, and Klein (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e) further argued that both concepts play different roles in affecting purchase behaviour. Consumer animosity is directed toward a particular country, while consumer ethnocentrism is about people\u0026rsquo;s belief regarding foreign products, and both animosity and ethnocentrism have been mentioned in the past studies as negative antecedents of the willingness to buy foreign products (De Nisco et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the nationalism and ethnocentrism constructs differ from one another and encompass different types of consumer feelings, it can be argued that nationalism may lead to ethnocentrism because consumer nationalists are willing to make a sacrifice to purchase a domestic brand because they believe that imported goods may damage their country\u0026rsquo;s economy (De Nisco et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCancel Culture\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn her 2022 book, Cancel Culture: A Critical Analysis, Eve Ng defined \u0026ldquo;Cancel Culture\u0026rdquo; as \u0026ldquo;comprising both cancel practices (cancelling) that involve actions against cancel target, which may be an individual, brand, or company, and cancel discourses, which is commentary about cancelling.\u0026rdquo; (Ng, 2022, p.1). On October 7, 2020, when a member of a famous K-pop band, BTS, made a remark about the shared South Korea-US history, many Chinese \u0026lsquo;netizens\u0026rsquo; expressed their anger towards BTS, and various Chinese media outlets, including official media of Chinese Communist Party like Global Times, sympathised with BTS critics (Ng, 2022, p. 2). In \u0026ldquo;Cancel Culture\u0026rdquo; there is always a cancel target, which can be an individual, brand, or a company that is subject to cancel practices; revolving around social media posts that explicitly use the term \u0026ldquo;cancelled\u0026rdquo; or posts that mean the same thing, like \u0026ldquo;Get out. BTS is dead\u0026rdquo; post (Ng, 2022, p.5).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Much cancelling activity occurs on social media platforms, and as such, there is an enormous amount of data; for even just a single case, there may be thousands, tens of thousands, or more cancel tweets, not to mention first-order and second-order discourses about cancelling. Cancel discourse are discussions and commentary about cancel practices and their aftermath.\u0026rdquo; (Ng, 2022, p.5\u0026ndash;6).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2019, Gartner Management Consultancy provided some of the most prominent examples (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e) of the power of China\u0026rsquo;s cancel culture in its report (Flora, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n\u003ctable id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/caption\u003e\n\u003cthead\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrand Name\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDetails\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsequences\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/th\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003c/thead\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDolce \u0026amp; Gabbana\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Received online backlash after being called out by fashion industry Instagram watchdog account Diet Prada.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;The massive social media uproar in China generated a 2512% increase in Weibo conversations about the brand, and resulted in tangible, disastrous consequences: the cancellation of a multi-million dollar China fashion show, removal from e-commerce platforms, and the loss of all of its Chinese brand ambassadors.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMAC Cosmetics\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Omitted Taiwan from a map of China\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Hashtag #MAC ad\u0026rsquo;s China map omits Taiwan# receiving over 6.8\u0026nbsp;million views on Weibo, the brand\u0026rsquo;s China office issued an apology on its Weibo account.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFashion retailer Gap\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Over a map of China on a t-shirt sold in Canada.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSimilar consequences like MAC\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eZara and Vogue\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Criticized online for featuring Chinese models whose looks did not conform to mainstream Chinese beauty standards\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Sparking an outcry that their \u0026ldquo;ugliness\u0026rdquo; was insulting to China.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLa Mer\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was sued in October by a prominent Chinese blogger for claiming on its Chinese site that its cream had \u0026ldquo;cured\u0026rdquo; burns, while its English site said it could \u0026ldquo;soothe\u0026rdquo; them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;The Weibo hashtag #La Mer cheats Chinese consumers# received over 92.3\u0026nbsp;million views and 118,000 comments.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaybelline\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Chinese media reported on March 18 that Tmall and JD.com users had complained that the brand had not given out free items as promised and did not state that a flash sale had ended\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn example of the most recent brand at the center of a consumer rights issue\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBalenciaga\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Users complained of mistreatment of a Chinese national in line to buy its Triple S sneakers in Paris\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Faced online furor in April last year and went dark on Weibo for four months after issuing an apology\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003ctfoot\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd colspan=\"3\"\u003eSource: Gartner.com (Flora, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003c/tfoot\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on literature reviews, it is possible that consumer nationalism and animosity can collectively result in a \"cancel culture\" phenomenon. It also appears that nationalism is not some static concept in time, but it has emerged and evolved with progression in time, technology, and medium of communication, and consumer nationalism and grassroots nationalism are just different manifestation of traditional Chinese nationalism. Certainly, there are also concepts like \u0026lsquo;Cyber Nationalism\u0026rsquo; and \u0026lsquo;Fandom Nationalism\u0026rsquo; etc., which are not independent theoretical concepts emerged on their own, which one can apply independently without referring to their predecessor(s), but instead they are context specific and may coexists with each other in certain phenomena of interest.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eConsumer Fairness Seeking\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrior research studies have shown that consumers use reference point in making decisions (Goldfarb et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e), they \u0026ldquo;may take different reference point as fair in different settings\u0026rdquo; (Harutyunyan et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e), they have fairness concerns, and there are numerous elements that can influence their perception of fairness (Harutyunyan et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo earn long term loyalty of their consumers, businesses should create an image of fairness, because when consumers are at risk or in unfavourable situation, breach of justice principles can provoke perception of unfairness which in turn can trigger intense reactions from them and motivate them to get even with the businesses (Seiders \u0026amp; Berry, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTentative Theoretical Framework\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on the research questions and the literature review, the following tentative frameworks are proposed (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e and Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e). The frameworks are used for the reference purposes, to understand the social media brand crisis (SMBC) in its entirety, and not for the purpose of hypothesis testing. The theoretical frameworks are tentative because as stated by Ridder, the case study design has different purposes in theory contribution and there are different designs to serve those purposes (2017). \u0026ldquo;Gaps and Hole\u0026rdquo; design (Appendix A), where the phenomenon of interest is partially understood with tentative theory in place, will be relevant to the case study design of this paper. The theoretical predictions shown in Figs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e and Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e came out of existing theories, and pattern-matching is used to compare the theoretical predictions with data. This comparison of theoretical concepts with rich case material data is the ground for new elements and relationships within the tentative theory (Ridder, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). The frameworks are also used to understand various antecedents leading to the Social Media Brand Crisis (SMBC), the possible drivers responsible for fuelling the intensity of the SMBC, and the possible outcomes of the SMBC on the brand Canada Goose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA rival explanation based on the initial findings of the literature review is shown in the Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e below.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Research Methodology","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis research used a qualitative case study approach to the collection and analysis of data, using primarily Netnography and Secondary Sources of Data. To explore the central research questions \u0026ndash; what the events are leading to the Canada Goose\u0026rsquo;s SMBC in China, what are the influencing factors related to the SMBC, what role did state, mass media, and online communities in China play in fuelling the crisis, as well as what are the possible and perceived outcomes of the SMBC\u0026ndash; the case-study methodology was used.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe following section discusses the unit of analysis, justification for using case study approach, the case of Canada Goose, the selection of social media and other Internet sites to conduct netnography, the selection of secondary sources of data, and the procedure of data collection and analysis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCase Study Analysis As The Method Of Choice\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs suggested by Dean (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e), the author believes that the case study methodology has been used in most studies focused on the corporate and brand crises. The case study approach can explain, describe, or explore events or phenomena in the everyday context in which they occur, and therefore provides the opportunity to acquire the best possible insight into the research topic of this paper (Yin, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). A case study methodology is suggested when a holistic, in-depth investigation is required (Feagin et al., 1991), as it reveals the details from the viewpoint of multiple sources of information and gives the chance to investigate a real-life phenomenon while strengthening the research findings (Yin, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). This will be an intrinsic case study based on the case of a well-known Canadian brand, Canada Goose, in China.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Case Of The Social Media Brand Crisis Of Canada Goose In China 2021\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCanada Goose Holdings Inc. is a company based in Toronto, Canada. It designs, manufactures, and sells performance luxury apparel for men, women, youth, children, and babies. Founded in 1957 by Sam Tick, in a small warehouse in Toronto, Canada Goose has grown into one of the world's leading makers of luxury apparel (Our History | Canada Goose\u0026reg;, n.d.). Canada Goose is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol \u0026ldquo;GOOS\u0026rdquo;. Canada Goose's entry into the Chinese market began in 2018, with the opening of two stores in Hong Kong and Beijing in the same year. In 2019, Canada Goose set up its Greater China headquarters in Shanghai. According to the official website of Canada Goose, it currently has 17 stores in the mainland China (Store Locator | Canada Goose\u0026reg;, n.d.).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn November 2021, Canada Goose was accused of double standards because of a customer return/refund issue in one of their stores in Shanghai, China. A customer purchased a Canada Goose jacket from their store in Shanghai on October 27, 2021 and found that there were some problems. The trademark was embroidered with an extra arc, stitches were rough, and fabric had a pungent smell. When she went back to the store to return the goods, she found out that she couldn\u0026rsquo;t return the product because she had signed, at the time of purchase, a document called \u0026ldquo;Replacement Clause.\u0026rdquo; It was handed to her by the clerk when she was making payment for the product. The product could not be bought without signing, so she signed it at that time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLater, the customer communicated with the store clerk and store manager and even contacted Canada Goose\u0026rsquo;s head office via e-mail. However, because of this clause, she was refused to return the product. The Replacement Clause she signed stated that \u0026ldquo;Unless relevant laws provide otherwise, all products sold in specialty stores in mainland China are not allowed to be returned.\u0026rdquo; Sometime in November 2021, she complained on the Chinese social media platform \u0026ldquo;Sina Weibo\u0026rdquo; to a group called \u0026ldquo;I want to complain- thoughtful Shanghai\u0026rdquo;. Based on her complaint, on 30 November 2021, the Sina Weibo group published a report.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotably, in 2018 and 2021, Canada Goose was also targeted by the Chinese government, consumers, and media, as reported in various known publications. In December 2018, it became a target of Chinese consumers demanding boycott of Canadian products, when a high-ranking executive of smartphone maker, Huawei, was arrested in Canada (Appendix E).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn September 2021, it faced accusations of misleading advertising in China and was later fined by the Chinese government (Appendix F). This case is not only about uncovering details surrounding a major real-life social media brand crisis of a well-known Canadian brand in China, but it is also about examining how a seemingly routine business issue is picked up by one of the most powerful Chinese social media sites and turned into a social media brand crisis. Along with a case-study methodology, an interpretive approach is used to study multiple realities, and create thick descriptions and a deep understanding of the phenomenon under study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eData Sources\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eNetnography\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNetnographic analysis is employed to understand the SMBC of Canada Goose in China. According to Kozinets, \u0026ldquo;Netnography is a specific set of related data collection, analysis, ethical, and representational research practices where a significant amount of the data is collected from networked digital communication through a participant-observational research stance that originates in the ethnographic research stance of anthropology\u0026rdquo; (2017).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNetnography is also an adaptation of ethnography to the study of online communities focused mainly on social media (Kozinets \u0026amp; Gambetti, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e, p.7). The amount and type of data collected vary and is dependent on the nature of phenomenon of interest, and reaching data saturation, that is, when no new ideas or themes emerge is a good indication of enough data collected (Hennink \u0026amp; Kaiser, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome researchers think that once accepted need for human presence in netnographic studies is giving way to naturalistic and bias-free non participatory approaches, which are tenable in some environments and not in other (Costello et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Kozinets (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) asserts that \u0026ldquo;participation, including reading through and interacting with (by clicking through, making notes upon, and so on) posted online material in a \u0026lsquo;real time\u0026rsquo; human fashion, can be considered a viable form of netnographic participation\u0026rdquo; (Kozinets, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQualitative analysis was used for the purposes of identifying and characterising user sentiment, emotions, and their related cognitions during the brand crisis period. The netnography qualitative approach gathered data from different Chinese websites, and the participant contributions on these sites poured in from Chinese participants. The sources include Sina Weibo, South China Morning Post, and Baidu. No ethics approval was required for this study, as it relied on publicly available data, did not include any identifiable information, did not include any private messages between users, and there was no interaction between Weibo, Baidu, South China Morning Post, and the researcher. Out of the three sources, the majority of chosen social interactions among participants during the observation process were based on Sina Weibo: mainly due to its enormous contribution in creating SMBC of Canada Goose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSecondary Sources Of Data\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing \u0026lsquo;Investigative Research on the Internet\u0026rsquo; method (Appendix G) described by Lugosi et al.(2012), secondary sources of data were collected and analysed from news articles and published resources like, official Canada Goose page on Weibo, blog posts on Weibo from bloggers and influencers, Global Times, Lowy Institute, Globe \u0026amp; Mail, Toronto Star, CBC, China Daily, Shanghai Daily, CGTN, South China Morning Post, BBC, NBC, Bloomberg, Fortune, The Interpreter, Forbes, CCG.net, breakinglatest.news, Goethe Institute, and the latest published financial reports of Canada Goose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince most data sources used in this study were in Simplified Chinese, Google Translate (GT), part of Google, was used to translate Simplified-Chinese into English language. Google Translate is the world\u0026rsquo;s number one translation software, and since its launch in April 2006, GT\u0026rsquo;s quality of translation has improved tremendously thanks to advances in machine learning, such as the GNMT neural translation model (Mykhalevyh, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). GT is a free online translation tool used for translating words, phrases, or web pages, and accessible via two platforms: the web interface and mobile applications (Android and iOS) and is based on Statistical Machine Translation; so instead of doing word-for-word translation, the system calculates the probabilities of various translations of a phrase being correct (Pham, 2022). GT allows users to enter the source language in a variety of ways, including using a virtual keyboard, voice recognition, handwriting, the complete document, or the entire uploaded file (Pham, 2022).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Data Analysis And Results","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"Section2\" id=\"Sec25\"\u003e\n \u003ch3\u003eStages in the Social Media Crisis of Canada Goose in China 2021\u003c/h3\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFrom the secondary data available, it appears that the brand crisis unfolded in distinct stages described in the following.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTrigger Events\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn October 27, 2021, A customer bought a down jacket (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e) with a model number of 9512M at the \u0026quot;Canada Goose\u0026quot; store at No. LG1-58 on the ground floor of the Shanghai International Finance Centre shopping mall at a price of 11,400 yuan.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter returning home, the customer found that the logo (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e) of \u0026quot;Canada Goose\u0026quot; was embroidered wrong: an extra arc was embroidered at the centre sun.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe claimed the stitching of the down jacket was rough (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e) and that there were many long and short thread ends; that the edges of the fabric in the pockets were not hemmed, that there was a phenomenon of detachment; and that the fabric also had a pungent smell.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe customer claimed that on October 27, before she paid, the clerk did not inform her that the purchased goods could not be refunded or returned. When she finished swiping her credit card, the clerk asked her to sign a piece of paper called \u0026lsquo;Exchange Policy\u0026rsquo; (Appendix B, Figure B2). It stated: Unless otherwise stipulated by relevant laws, all goods sold by specialised stores in mainland China cannot be returned.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLocal Response\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn October 28, when the customer complained to the store manager of Canada Goose, they refused to accept the goods and asked the customer to get in touch with the head office. When the customer asked for the head office phone number, the store manager could not provide it and asked the customer to look for it herself.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn November 14th, the customer wrote an email and sent the detailed photos of the clothes and other vouchers to the Canada Goose Testing Centre mailbox ([email protected]) in the form of an email attachment. But then they replied that Canada Goose does not provide product certification through photos (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote.\u0026nbsp;The customer stated that her claim was not big, and she only asked for a return or refund; however, it has been more than a month and still they could not provide her satisfactory solution.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEscalation Stage\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Social Media Brand Crisis (SMBC) of Canada Goose started in the morning of, November 30th, 2021, on the Chinese social media site, Sina Weibo, after an influential Weibo group called \u0026ldquo;I want to complain- thoughtful Shanghai\u0026rdquo; (Figure B1), published a news report titled, \u0026ldquo;Canada Goose logo is wrongly embroidered, and the fabric is pungent... stores in mainland China, no returns\u0026rdquo;(Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis report received over 6.85\u0026nbsp;million readings, and 15,228 comments (Xinmin, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). The report was based on a complaint the Weibo group received sometime in November 2021, from the customer of Canada Goose in Shanghai.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCanada Goose Primary Response\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn response to the incident, on the morning of December 1 (China Time), Canada Goose posted a statement (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e) on their official Weibo account page (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e) saying that the meaning of Article 1 in the \u0026quot;Replacement Terms\u0026quot; of Canada Goose\u0026apos;s specialty stores in mainland China is that, in compliance with relevant laws and regulations, all mainland China products sold in specialty stores can be returned for a refund. After the product is delivered, if there is a quality problem, in line with the Canada Goose warranty policy, you can enjoy a lifetime warranty on materials and workmanship.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDissemination Of Social Media Crisis\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom November 30th to December 2nd the hashtag \u0026ldquo;Canada goose stores in Mainland China are not allowed to be returned\u0026rdquo; became a hot search on Sina Weibo and was further reported by Chinese media and other Sina Weibo group members with a number of different hashtags. The Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e below describes names of 17 chosen hashtags, along with number of times they were read and number of discussions about them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" id=\"Tab2\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSr no\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHash Tag (English)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHash Tag (Simplified Chinese)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber of times read\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber of discussions\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Canada Goose stipulates that stores in mainland China are not allowed to return #\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅规定中国大陆门店不得退货#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e420 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e19000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Canada goose down jacket shedding and refusing to repair#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅羽绒服掉毛还拒修#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e33.706 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2727\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Canada goose can\u0026rsquo;t fly out of the website of Chinese law #\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅不能飞出中国法律之网#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e73.571 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2918\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Canada Goose\u0026apos;s market value evaporated by 8.4\u0026nbsp;billion in 10 days#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅市值10天蒸发84亿#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e97.678 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3526\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Canada Goose has 20 stores in the Chinese market and only 9 stores in Canada#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅在中国市场20家店在加拿大才9家#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.871 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e78\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Canada goose why Chinese consumers look differently#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅为何对中国消费者另眼相看#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e110 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5621\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#CanadaGoose\u0026apos;s market value has shrunk by over 8 billion#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅市值缩水超80亿#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8.182 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e86\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Canada goose can\u0026rsquo;t fly out of China Legal Network# #\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅不能飞出中国法律之网#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e73.571 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2918\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Canada goose return Chinese and foreign do not engage in double standard #\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅退货中外有别搞双标#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5.978 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e104\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e# Who gave Canada goose the confidence to be arrogant#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#谁给了加拿大鹅傲慢的底气#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10.239 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1282\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee Three Questions Canada Goose #\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#上海消保委三问加拿大鹅#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e29.615 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1150\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee will continue to interview Canada Goose#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#上海消保委将继续约谈加拿大鹅#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e23.357 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1080\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#China Consumers Association said that any brand has no privilege in front of consumers#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#中消协称任何品牌在消费者面前都没特权#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11.698 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e940\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#CanadaGoose Chinese and foreign return policies are different is double standard#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅中外退货政策不同是双标吗#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9.064 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1482\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Canada Goose denies that offline stores do not allow returns#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅否认线下门店不允许退货#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e41.827 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1811\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#CanadaGoose treats Chinese consumers differently#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#加拿大鹅为何对中国消费者另眼相看#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e110 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5621\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee Interview with Canada Goose#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e#上海市消保委约谈加拿大鹅#\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e51.872 million\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2472\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMitigation Efforts With Government\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the morning of the same day (December 1), the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee (SCPC) interviewed Canada Goose [Xiji (Shanghai) Trading Co., Ltd.] (Figure F2). According to the SCPC, during the interview, Canada Goose participants did not understand the specific meaning of the \u0026quot;replacement clause\u0026quot; of the specialty store. It further stated that the company\u0026apos;s return and exchange process expressed by the participants was quite different from the actual situation reported by consumers. The SCPC required Canada Goose to submit a formal explanation of the \u0026quot;Replacement Terms\u0026quot; before noon on December 2. The SCPC also asked the participants whether the return and exchange terms of Canada Goose specialty stores outside mainland China were consistent with those in mainland China, and they said they did not know. However, Canada Goose participants confirmed the relevant provisions of the 30-day no-reason return on Canada Goose\u0026apos;s official website and said that this clause does not apply to mainland China, and the 7-day no-reason return clause applies to mainland China.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eInvolvement Of State Media\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn December 2, 2021, Chinese state-run newspaper, Global Times, reported that \u0026ldquo;Shanghai authorities summon Canada Goose for talks over double-standard selling policy\u0026rdquo; (Figs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e \u0026amp; \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn December 3, 2021, Sina Technology, which is the most influential TMT industry information and digital product service platform in China, claimed on their official Weibo account that \u0026ldquo;The arrogant \u0026quot;goose\u0026quot; finally confessed. Canada Goose seems to have \u0026quot;admitted\u0026quot;. This morning, Canada Goose headquarters exclusively responded to Sina Technology, saying that if there is a problem with materials and workmanship, it can be refunded and returned within 14 days according to Chinese law. This is the first time the official promises to refund the return.\u0026rdquo; (Yadan, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne very interesting aspect of Sina Technology\u0026rsquo;s blog post on Weibo was that it stated explicitly that Canada Goose became the target of media crusades and involvement of China Central Television.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;This winter, Canada Goose has been lying on the hot search and has become the target of all media crusades. Just now, China Central Television named \u0026quot;Canada Goose\u0026quot; and said: When the products you provide are not scarce, and the quality and service are not equal to the amount paid by consumers, we can choose to vote with our feet. \u0026quot;Canada Goose\u0026quot; without actual action, there is not much time left for you! The reason for this round of public opinion turmoil came from a consumer\u0026apos;s strange shopping experience: after spending 11,400 yuan on a Canada Goose down jacket, he was refused to return it. The store staff bluntly stated that \u0026quot;no return\u0026quot; is a general term in China.\u0026rdquo; (Yadan, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eInvolvement Of Global Media\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany global news media picked up this story and reported on December 2, 2021. For example, The Globe and Mail reported that, \u0026ldquo;Canada Goose comes under fire again from Chinese state media, regulators after returns policy sparks furor\u0026rdquo; (Griffiths, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e). While New York Post (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e) reported that, \u0026ldquo;Arrogant and superior\u0026rsquo; Canada Goose faces fresh backlash in China\u0026rdquo; (Fickenscher, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEscalation To Other Western Luxury Brands\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn December 5, 2021, the Global Times reported that after Canada Goose, there are other luxury brands found to be following double standards against Chinese consumers:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;French luxury brand Louis Vuitton and Italian luxury label Gucci are among the latest international brands found to be using differentiated product exchange and return policies toward consumers in the Chinese mainland compared with other markets, sparking fresh backlash from Chinese consumers after the case of Canadian luxury parka maker Canada Goose\u0026rdquo; (More Global Brands Criticized for Discriminatory Return Policy in Chinese Mainland - Global Times, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe news report also stated that brands like Christian Dior and Burberry also follow different after sales policy in China compared to other markets, and particularly mentioned that Louis Vuitton\u0026rsquo;s different return and exchange policy triggered fresh anger among Chinese consumers on Sina Weibo.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSubsiding Social Media Crisis\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn December 9, 2021, Canada Goose posted a first detailed statement (Appendix B, Figure B3) and updated return and exchange policy on their official Weibo account page (Appendix B, Figure B4). Their statement read,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCanada Goose sincerely appreciates the support of consumers, and will continue to strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations, while providing high-quality products and customer experience. With the guidance and help of @Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee, our company has updated and optimised the \u0026quot;Canada Goose Return and Exchange Service Commitment in Mainland China\u0026quot; to provide consumers with detailed after-sales guidance. Our company will continue to expand and improve consumer experience. In addition, our company will also continue to cooperate with the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission to explore more ways to improve consumer satisfaction under the framework of Chinese laws and regulations, combined with industry practices. Thanks again for the guidance and supervision of the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee and the feedback from all walks of life. Canada Goose sincerely looks forward to joining hands with consumers to start more journeys together, thank you!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eStable State After Social Media Crisis\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter Canada Goose made their official detailed statement on December 9, 2021, the social media crisis came to an end in the days following the statement.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe events most responsible for triggering the social media crisis started with an unsatisfied customer of Canada Goose in Shanghai, China, and continued until the escalation stage, where a Weibo group, \u0026lsquo;I want to complain-thoughtful Shanghai\u0026rsquo; published a morning news report on Sina Weibo based on the customer complaint. After the publication of this report, which generated 450\u0026nbsp;million views and 19,000 discussions, the crisis became viral on Chinese social media.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe following two sections take a netnographic look at consumer emotions and their related association which amplified the Social Media Crisis (particularly in the \u0026quot;escalation stage\u0026quot;) and analyse the consequences of the crisis for Canada Goose, based on secondary data.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eNetnographic Data Collection \u0026amp; Analysis\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the Canada Goose news story broke out on Sina Weibo, millions of Weibo users read the story and thousands took part in the discussion, which was then picked up by the Chinese and world media and reported widely. The sites for the netnographic study; Sina Weibo, Baidu, and South China Morning Post were selected based on the six criteria outlined by Kozinets (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e, p. 89), which are, (1) relevant to the research questions; (2) active, with recent and regular communications; (3) interactive (4) substantial, in terms of numbers of users; (5) diverse, involving different participants; and (6) data rich.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdopting from the steps \u0026amp; outcomes of the human-driven netnography research process outlined in Netnography Unlimited (Kozinets \u0026amp; Gambetti, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e, p.185), first relevant keywords were identified around the topic of Canada Goose for searching content online. In stage 1, relevant content was identified using search engines and sources were listed and prioritised for further research. In stage 2, 3,000 user generated posts were read and identified, and 350 of those were scraped manually for analysis, after translating them from Simplified Chinese to English using Google Translate. In stage 3, after thoroughly reading all the stored content and using an inductive analysis approach, 23 initial codes (Figure F1) were generated, resulting in 350 coded comments. In stage 4, to generate topic clusters, 350 coded comments were further grouped according to patterns of like meaning. In the final stage, themes were identified, and cross-checking was performed to generate in-depth insight. The coding scheme (Appendix F) was used, with names of the 23 codes (Figure F1), sample of code definitions (Figure F2), coded sample (Figure F3), an example of excluded material (Figure F4), a few examples of included material (Figure F5), and how to identify a theme using direct interpretation research materials and using pattern matching and time-series analytical techniques for the analysis (Figure F6). Comments with only symbols like, \u003cimg src=\"data:image/png;base64,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\" alt=\"\" width=\"28\" height=\"27\"\u003e, were excluded from the chosen sample and comments with content were included. As majority of comments were of highly nationalistic tone, special care has been taken to ensure that choice of blog posts to which user generated content was posted did not have a sample of posts which is biased into the direction of purely nationalistic in nature.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter identifying user generated content in Stage 1 and selecting user generated content in Stage 2; in Stage 3, content analysis was conducted using an inductive approach, which allowed the researcher to create own coding classifications based directly on user posts observed. Content analysis helped identify the presence of certain words, themes, and theoretical concepts within user generated comments and helped analyse the presence, meanings, and relationships of such certain words, themes, and theoretical concepts (Content Analysis Method and Examples | Columbia Public Health, n.d.).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe data set was first copied on an excel file and after thoroughly reading each user comment, 23 initial codes were generated which resulted in 350 coded comments. To test for reliability of coding, a 2nd Coder was employed to code a subset of posts. A total of 101 posts out of 350 were randomly selected and coded independently by the 1st Coder (the author) and the 2nd Coder. Comparing those 101 coded comments, inter-coder reliability scores were generated for each code. Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e shows the name of the codes, their definitions, a few samples of user generated posts related to each code, and inter-coder reliability score. Finally, in those cases where 1st and 2nd coders disagreed, they both re-visited the comments and code definitions and came to a common understanding and agreement. Based on this exercise, the 1st coder re-coded 1.125% of the total coded comments in the master file.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" id=\"Tab4\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCode Name\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCode Definition\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOperationa-lization\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUser Comment Examples\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInter-Coder Reliability Score\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSentiment\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSentiment towards Canada Goose\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Very negative, 2\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Negative, 3\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Neutral, 4\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Positive. 5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Very positive\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;A market that relies on us to continue, eats the dividends of the Chinese market, but dares to treat our consumers with such a \u0026quot;double standard\u0026quot;, and now I change my mouth and refuse to accept returns. Who gave Canada Goose such arrogance?\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Reject this brand\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Support domestic products[yeah]\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4=\u0026nbsp;Quality and Service Take the Throne!\u0026nbsp;It\u0026apos;s hard not to support!\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePearson\u0026apos;s correlation between the two sets of sentiment\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.5927\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUsing Abusive/Hate language and/or Presenting false Information\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUndesired and unsubstantiated user-generated content on social media, against CG or Canada or foreign brands/foreigners (except against the Chinese population), which may include spreading false information and using abusive/hate language\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;yes there is evidence 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Keywords examples: kill them, kick them out, pigs, scammers, scumbags, shameless, grilled and eaten, duck down etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Punish it to death 2. Canada goose grilled and eaten 3. Canadian poor, wait for China to give you something to eat.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e97%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlaming Canada Goose\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames Canada Goose based on either service, policy, quality, or combination of those\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. This has nothing to do with a \u0026quot;nationalist\u0026quot; backlash and everything to do with customer service. \u0026nbsp;Returns are expected for a high-end brand. 2. Is this store selling fakes as real, otherwise how could this happen?\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e89%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlaming Chinese Customer(s)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames the customer directly or indirectly and implies that they used the fake product to return/exchange in the Canada Goose store)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. foreigners don\u0026apos;t know that someone will buy fakes for real ones, which is to fill the loopholes[good] 2. \u0026nbsp;Aren\u0026apos;t you afraid to return the fake goose? 3. I really don\u0026apos;t mean to be malicious to my compatriots. It\u0026apos;s true that most of them are not bad for money. They are very good at exploiting and taking advantage. This really has nothing to do with having money or not. Upbringing issues.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e96%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlaming Government\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames the local government saying either they are lenient towards foreign brands like CG, or ither they are asking the government to take action against CG or implying that consumer laws should be stricter)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. \u0026nbsp;Is this dishonourable? This is a violation of Chinese law. If it were a democratic beacon country, it would have been punished by hundreds of billions of dollars earlier. 2. Has the person in charge of the competent department died?\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e97%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCanada Goose has Bad Quality\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames the quality of CG products\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Just expensive enough, nothing else matters... It doesn\u0026apos;t matter if you break a hole and don\u0026apos;t keep warm, the most important thing is expensive enough!\u0026nbsp;!\u0026nbsp;Poor quality! 2.Who gave Canada Goose such arrogant confidence when he changed his mind and refused to accept the return?\u0026nbsp;When there is a quality problem in the product, consumers have the right to request repairs, replacements, returns, etc.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e95%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCriticises Price\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames price saying either CG is too expensive, rich Chinese buy CG, or something in their comments indicate that they made a direct or indirect reference to high price of CG products\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. More expensive but different policy compared to other countries 2. Just expensive enough, nothing else matters... It doesn\u0026apos;t matter if you break a hole and don\u0026apos;t keep warm, the most important thing is expensive enough!\u0026nbsp;!\u0026nbsp;Poor quality!\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e90%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames Chinese Population overall\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames the Chinese population (E.g., Criticizing others for buying a foreign brand like CG and/or attacking other Chinese because of extreme nationalistic view)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Key words example, rich people, too much money, licking foreigners, people are stupid, rich, without skin, etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Really speechless, another foreign brand that comes to China to make money and arrogant, do you really think we are this big money? People are stupid and have a good temper.[sweat][sweat][sweat] 2. Chinese people who worship foreigners, people look down on people like you!\u0026nbsp;!\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e94%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePoor Customer Service\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames or criticises customer service of CG)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. This has nothing to do with a \u0026quot;nationalist\u0026quot; backlash and everything to do with customer service. \u0026nbsp;Returns are expected for a high end brand. 2. I don\u0026apos;t know why the domestic store is like this. The goose I bought in the United States can be returned within a month as long as the tag is not picked.\u0026nbsp;I had to wear it for 20 days and then return it. The clerk didn\u0026apos;t ask a word and returned it to me quickly and with a good attitude. It was very natural and smooth, and it was obviously a routine operation.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e93%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlaming Bloggers\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames other commenters/users (Thinks argument presented by other commenters is incorrect or not valid, or criticises them for spreading negative publicity)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Please check, 7 days goods exchange is the Chinese government\u0026apos;s own policy. \u0026nbsp;Please don\u0026apos;t use this single case of consumer complaint to stir up a nationalistic emotion, it would harm Chinese people \u0026apos;s mind and its intolerance society.\u0026nbsp;2. Right, build the wall higher. No need for anything to impact the hearts and minds from outside the border. The Middle Kingdom is the world. Sounds a bit like NK\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e96%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCG follows Double Standard (Discrimination)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThinks CG follows double standards, or thinks CG has different rules for the Chinese consumers than consumers in Canada, or CG discriminates against the Chinese)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Key words: Double standard, discrimination, different policy compared to Canada, racist etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. More expensive but different policy compared to other countries 2. Obviously it is discrimination against Chinese consumers!\u0026nbsp;There is no need for such a company to exist in China! 3. \u0026nbsp;Don\u0026rsquo;t think about it, Canada Goose\u0026rsquo;s sales in China account for a large proportion, but even this can\u0026rsquo;t stop people from double-standarding the Chinese market.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e97%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCG Violated Chinese Law/s\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThinks CG violated or didn\u0026apos;t abide by the local Chinese laws/consumer laws\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Key words: Consumer rights/protection, legal, law, rights, clause etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. does not meet the legal requirements of China\u0026apos;s seven-day unreasonable return and return of goods and quality problems 2. This unilateral clause conflicts with the Consumer Protection Law, but the Consumer Protection Law is the first clause, so this is invalid\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e97%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCalls for Boycott CG\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAsking for or suggesting boycotting Canada Goose products\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Key words: Boycott, don\u0026apos;t buy, won\u0026apos;t buy, abandon etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Chinese people stand up, if you don\u0026apos;t buy it, can you still die? 2. Resolutely resist, anyway, it is imported, there are no foundries and production lines in China, and it has no impact on China\u0026apos;s employment and exports.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e96%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCG is Arrogant\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThinks Canada Goose or its response is arrogant\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence, 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Arrogant/Bully/Proud/Confident/Shameless/Insincere)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Why are you so bold, because it is too difficult for ordinary people to defend their rights, and even if they are fined, they will not make more profit for one day[doge] 2. Who gave Canada Goose such arrogant confidence when he changed his mind and refused to accept the return?\u0026nbsp;When there is a quality problem in the product, consumers have the right to request repairs, replacements, returns, etc.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e96%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCalls to Close Canada Goose\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAsking to shut down Canada Goose stores in China\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Key words: Get out, etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Such products, such terms, why let him sell in China?\u0026nbsp;?\u0026nbsp;? 2. Obviously it is discrimination against Chinese consumers!\u0026nbsp;There is no need for such a company to exist in China!\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e97%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSupports Domestic\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSupports Domestic (Chinese Brands/Products)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Except \u0026quot;Bosideng\u0026quot; because \u0026quot;Bosideng\u0026quot; has a separate code)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Support domestic products[yeah] 2. \u0026nbsp;it is everyone\u0026apos;s responsibility to support domestic products 3. Can I not buy it?\u0026nbsp;Regardless of whether it\u0026apos;s a Canada goose or a chicken, I don\u0026apos;t follow the trend, I just wear domestic products that cost about 100 yuan and still spend the winter!\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e92%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAnti Foreign\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCriticises foreign brands/products by saying not to buy foreign brands, or blaming foreign brands, or showing dislike towards foreigners\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Key words: Foreign, foreigners, etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. When buying down jackets, look at the amount of down and what kind of down, and then look at the style and fabric workmanship. The brand is not important. You have to sort out these foreign ones. 2. This is not a time when a foreign brand treats Chinese customers differently!\u0026nbsp;Countless foreign companies are like this, including Disney!\u0026nbsp;why?\u0026nbsp;Just because there are too many brainless supporters in China buying their products!\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e94%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePro Foreign\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTalks about foreign Policies/culture/customer service etc. or uses foreign best practices as an example)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Key words: United States, etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. foreigners don\u0026apos;t know that someone will buy fakes for real ones, which is to fill the loopholes[good] 2.\u0026nbsp;It is possible that what I say will be insulting, but we cannot ignore why they support unconditional returns for almost all products because their customers will not deliberately cheat, will not borrow and use it and return it, will not use money laundering, etc., so People\u0026apos;s shopping malls are not afraid to say more[laugh cry]\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e99%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBosideng\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSupports or praises local brand \u0026quot;Bosideng\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Key word: Bosideng)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. To tell the truth, it is not as good as Bosideng, just because it is an imported brand, it can sell tens of thousands, and my brain is flooded!\u0026nbsp;! 2. I choose Bosideng for down, it is very comfortable, no problem at minus 35 degrees in the northeast\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e100%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSeeks Justice\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThinks CG should be punished (as per the laws) because it is in violation of local Chinese laws\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. This kind of enterprise needs punitive education, and it must be corrected. 2. deal with according to law 3. Such arrogant companies should be punished.\u0026nbsp;Instead of queuing at the door to limit the flow of entry\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e100%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAnti Canada\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe comment indicates some sort of dislike/animosity towards Canada\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence (Key word: Law, Punitive, Punish, etc.)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. It is their own business whether Ms. Jia who is Canadian or who is planning to become a Canadian citizen buys Canadian goods without refund.\u0026nbsp;The media consumer protection association is nosy, and the real Chinese will not buy it. 2. There are still people buying Canadian products\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e98%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAnti China\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIndicates that Chinese use fake products to return/exchange or fake products are available in the Chinese market or Chinese people are not trustworthy or criticises the Chinese government policies directly or indirectly or criticises local brand Bosideng or uses objective and factual tone, which may be considered anti-popular or anti-national\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. To be honest, it is very necessary to rectify the imitation factories, so as to protect the rights and interests of consumers.\u0026nbsp;- In a market flooded with fakes, merchants dare not accept returns.\u0026nbsp;Big goose is so similar[Yun sad][Yun sad]\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. \u0026nbsp;It was also possible to return and exchange it normally before, but there was a period when many Chinese bought fake products and returned them, but they did not return them later.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e99%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMakes General Comment\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMakes General Comment (Which has nothing do with the issue) For example: I don\u0026apos;t have money, never heard of CG\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. \u0026nbsp;I\u0026apos;m not boycotting it, I just can\u0026apos;t afford it.\u0026nbsp;Not only can\u0026apos;t afford the big goose, but most clothes in the mall can\u0026apos;t afford it now. 2. I just don\u0026apos;t count\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e97%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Sentiment Analysis of a chosen sample of user posts by two independent coders, using 5-point Likert scale, showed negative sentiment towards Canada Goose, which was quite expected. The individual code count (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e) showed that Blaming Canada Goose topped the list, with presence in 118 posts out of 350. It was then followed by \u0026lsquo;Using abusive/hate language\u0026rsquo; with 62 counts, \u0026lsquo;Calls for boycott CG\u0026rsquo; with 58 counts, \u0026lsquo;Blames Chinese Population Overall\u0026rsquo; with 54 counts, \u0026lsquo;Criticises Price\u0026rsquo; with 32 counts etc. Many of those who blamed the Chinese population used the expensive price of Canada Goose as a reference to criticise their fellow citizens as stated in this post,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Jia, Goose \u003cem\u003e[note: Jia is the customer, whose name (or a nick name) appeared in all the published media]\u003c/em\u003e tells the Chinese people with facts that the expensive ones are not necessarily good ones!\u0026nbsp;Be careful!\u0026nbsp;The cheapest price is five or six thousand \u003cem\u003e[note, Chinese Renmimbi, approximately CAD 1050]\u003c/em\u003e, and at this price, you can buy several pieces from other brands!\u0026nbsp;This kind of rubbish, you should not buy it, just let it go out of business\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn stage 4, to generate topic clusters, 350 coded comments were further grouped according to patterns of similar meaning. The constant comparison of data and previous development of initial codes were used to create a higher-level understanding and classifications. The process of constant comparison began with comparing 350 coded comments with each other and revisiting the original data. The comparison provided the ability to find and link commonalities and develop topics. The codes with similar meaning were grouped together under the emerging topics (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" id=\"Tab5\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSr No\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTopic Name\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCodes under the topic\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUser Comment Examples\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThinks Canada Goose is arrogant, or uses discriminatory/double standard policy against Chinese and should be punished or closed\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.CG follows Double Standard (Discrimination)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.CG is Arrogant\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.Close Canada Goose\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4.Calls for Boycott CG\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Obviously it is discrimination against Chinese consumers! There is no need for such a company to exist in China!\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. \u0026quot;Since you are \u0026quot;\u0026quot;arrogant and double standard\u0026quot;\u0026quot;, I will let you \u0026quot;\u0026quot;goose feathers all over the place\u0026quot;\u0026quot;![weak]\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThinks Canada Goose is in violation of local laws and/or should be punished\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5.CG Violated Chinese Law/s\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6. Seeks Justice\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7. Blaming Government\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. \u0026quot; Isn\u0026apos;t the word \u0026quot;\u0026quot;proud\u0026quot;\u0026quot; too soft? Violating the legitimate rights and interests of consumers\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. The Market Supervision Bureau will take action when it should\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eExpresses clear anger or frustration against those who buys foreign brand products\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8. Blames Chinese Population Overall\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9. Criticizes Price\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. I don\u0026apos;t know what the person who bought it is looking for? Does it fail the inspection? Is it worth that much for one logo?\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.Too many people with money are stupid\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSupports domestic Chinese brands\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10. Supports Domestic\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11. Bosideng\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Anta down jacket is the first choice for keeping warm and cheap!\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. \u0026quot;Bosideng is not fragrant, buy this broken brand\u0026quot; \u003cem\u003e[note: Since the customer accused CG jacket had a pungent smell, the blogger refers to local competitor brand, Bosideng, and asks sarcastically, \u0026ldquo;Don\u0026rsquo;t you think Bosideng is better than CG?\u0026rdquo; ]\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUndesired and unsubstantiated user-generated content on social media; including creation and spreading of false information and using abusive language\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12.Using Abusive/Hate language and/or Presenting false Information\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e13. Anti Canada\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14. Anti Foreign\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Don\u0026apos;t kill the poor\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. \u0026quot;Don\u0026apos;t call it Canada Goose, just call it Canada scumbag\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMakes General Comment\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eN/A\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Today a colleague wore it and was teased for a long time[not easy]\u003cem\u003e[note: This comment was made on a day when CG was one of the hottest trending topics on Sina Weibo. The blogger talks about how their colleague was mocked when came to work wearing CG brand ]\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. Poverty keeps me away from this brand\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUses objective and factual tone, which may be considered anti-popular or anti-nationalistic\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e15. Blaming Chinese Customer(S)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16. Blaming Bloggers\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e17. Pro Foreign\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18. Anti China\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThere can be no legal issues here on the grounds of discrimination. Because there is no national law in the world that can stipulate that enterprise products must have a unified sales policy. Chinese companies can\u0026apos;t do it either. If you go to the United States, it is much cheaper to make in China than to buy it in China. China also provides fuel to Vietnam and North Korea cheaper than domestically. [\u0026hellip;]. The economic law is irresistible.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames Canada Goose based on either service, policy, quality, or combination of those\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e19. Blaming Canada Goose\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e20. Canada Goose has Bad Quality\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e21. Poor Customer Service\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. \u0026quot;To be fair though, if you google what the incorrect logo stitching looked like, you\u0026apos;d probably want to return it too. It wasn\u0026apos;t off by just a bit, something you don\u0026apos;t expect from a luxury brand. \u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. In fact, the store is still unable to return or exchange for no reason within 7 days.\u0026nbsp;The reply from the Shanghai IFC store today.\u0026nbsp;really shameless\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the final coding stage, after identifying nuances of meaning (topics) in groups and determining theme names based on those meaning and organization, five clearly defined themes were identified from the topic clusters: Grassroots Nationalism, Consumer Fairness Seeking, Anti-Nationalistic Voice, Consumer Animosity, and Spreading of False Information and/or Using Abusive/Hate Language. Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e below shows the relationship between the themes and topics, while Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e provides theme definitions, operationalization, user comment examples and 2nd Coder reliability score.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" id=\"Tab7\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSr No\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThemes and Topics Relation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChinese Grassroots Nationalism\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eExpresses clear anger or frustration against those who buys foreign brand products\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThinks Canada Goose is arrogant, or uses discriminatory/double standard policy against Chinese and should be punished or closed\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSupports domestic Chinese brands\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsumer Fairness Seeking\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBlames Canada Goose based on either service, policy, quality, or combination of those\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThinks Canada Goose is in violation of local laws and/or should be punished\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAnti-Nationalistic Voice\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAnti China\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMakes General Comment\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSpreading of false information and/or using abusive/hate language\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAnti Foreign\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsumer Animosity\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAnti Canada\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" id=\"Tab8\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTheme Name\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTheme Definition\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOperationalization\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUser Comment Example\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2nd Coder Reliability Score\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAnti-Nationalistic Voice\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOpposed to one\u0026apos;s own nation; unpatriotic or making logical/factual argument with opposing views\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. foreigners don\u0026apos;t know that someone will buy fakes for real ones, which is to fill the loopholes[good] 2. You may not believe it, but all managers and decision-makers in Big Goose China are Chinese.\u0026nbsp;In fact, Chinese people discriminate against Chinese people.\u0026nbsp;Because my aunt\u0026apos;s son upstairs belongs to this company. He came back from studying in the United States and is now working as a big goose. He just told me about it at night.[Yun sad]\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e91%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSpreading of false information and/or using abusive/hate language\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUndesired and unsubstantiated user-generated content on social media, against CG or Canada or foreign brands/foreigners (except against the Chinese population), which may include spreading false information and using abusive/hate language\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Goose eating is too ugly\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. kill him\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3. eat goose\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e94%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConsumer Animosity\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConsumer Animosity represents either discomfort towards foreign goods, services and brands originating in countries with which there is some kind of conflict, or rejection of products or services from those conflict countries. Here, \u0026quot;Animosity\u0026quot; denotes hatred specifically towards \u0026lsquo;Canada\u0026rsquo; due to historical, economic, political, or cultural factors and name \u0026lsquo;Canada\u0026rsquo; would explicitly appear in data\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Canada is about to capsize\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. Canada is too shameless\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3. Canada is the younger brother of the mould country, and is as obedient as a dog.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e98%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGrassroots Nationalism\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUsing social media to protest against a foreign brand. Historical memories, and current events, can be driving factors for grassroots nationalism and its influence on the foreign brands. Chinese grassroots nationalism contains a strong antiforeign sentiment and a victim complex.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. you are right, you must support domestic products and starve foreign powers to death.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. Exit the Chinese market! As long as the Chinese people with a little face will not be buying your stuff!\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3. \u0026nbsp;If \u0026quot;Canada Goose\u0026quot; is still lost in self-delusion and doesn\u0026apos;t want to make progress, then the rest can only be \u0026quot;one place goose feathers\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e86%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConsumer Fairness Seeking\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConsumers express that they want to be treated equally and fairly, in terms of: domestic fairness- where they have certain service/quality expectation from a local luxury brand; and international fairness- where they expect to be treated equally like other foreign customers.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;there is evidence \u0026amp; 0\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;no evidence\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1. Making money in China does not comply with Chinese laws, what the heck\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2. More expensive but different policy compared to other countries\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e86%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" \u003e\n \u003ccaption\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 7\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOctober 27, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eA customer bought a down jacket from Canada Goose (CG) store in Shanghai, China and asked to sign \u0026lsquo;no return\u0026rsquo; clause\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTrigger Events\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOctober 28, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe customer went back to the CG store to return the jacket, but CG refused\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTrigger Events/ Local Response\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNovember 14, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe customer complained to CG by an email\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLocal Response\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNovember 15, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCG responded to customer by an email\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLocal Response\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNovember 30, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eA Weibo group, \u0026lsquo;I want to complain-thoughtful Shanghai\u0026rsquo; published a report about this issue and CG SMBC started/ Going Viral\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEscalation Stage/ Dissemination of Social Media Crisis\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDecember 1, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCG posted a copy of return/exchange policy on its official Weibo page\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCanada Goose Primary Response\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDecember 1, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eShanghai Consumer Protection Committee interviewed CG\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMitigation Efforts with Government\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDecember 2 \u0026amp; 3, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSina Technology on Weibo claimed CG exclusively responded to them\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInvolvement of State \u0026amp; Global Media\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDecember 5, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGlobal Times reported some other luxury brands following double standard policy against Chinese consumers\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEscalation to other Western luxury brands\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"19.316239316239315%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDecember 9, 2021\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"51.623931623931625%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCG on its Weibo page officially responded and posted updated policy\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" width=\"29.05982905982906%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSubsiding Social Media Crisis/ Stable State\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe final stage theme count (Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e) showed \u0026lsquo;Grassroots Nationalism\u0026rsquo; emerged as the dominant theme with 46% presence in 350 chosen posts, followed by \u0026lsquo;Anti- Nationalist Voice\u0026rsquo; with 17.14% of presence, \u0026lsquo;Consumer Fairness Seeking\u0026rsquo; with 15.43% of presence, \u0026lsquo;Spreading of false information and/or using abusive/hate language\u0026rsquo; with 14.6% of presence, and \u0026lsquo;Consumer Animosity\u0026rsquo; with 6.86% presence.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe research findings show the strong presence of modern form of Chinese Nationalism, called Grassroots Nationalism, where 46% of Chinese netizens used social media platforms to show support of domestic Chinese brands, to express their anger and frustration against Canada Goose customers for buying their expensive products, to express their strong anti-foreign sentiments because of the perceived double standard/discriminatory policy of Canada Goose against Chinese, and demanding punishment for and closure of Canada Goose. 17% of user posts in this finding was anti-nationalistic voice. Majority of those posters spoke truth voicing their unbiased opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor example, one of the Weibo posts coded earlier as Anti China and emerged as anti-nationalistic voice read,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;To be honest, it is very necessary to rectify the imitation factories, so as to protect the rights and interests of consumers.\u0026nbsp;- In a market flooded with fakes, merchants dare not accept returns.\u0026nbsp;Big goose is so similar.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is important to recognize here that counterfeiting has grown from a small industry to $1.7 trillion in value.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Counterfeiting has gone from a small industry to a $1.7 trillion problem this year,\u0026rdquo; said Craig Crosby, publisher of the Counterfeit Report, in an interview. \u0026ldquo;What product isn\u0026rsquo;t counterfeit? That\u0026rsquo;s the question. This holiday return scam has permeated the retail business as well as the online ecommerce industry\u0026rdquo; (Takahashi, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo deal with the counterfeit scam, the Counterfeit Report, an independent publication that publishes counterfeit information from 250 global manufacturers stated that consumers should avoid making online purchases from China.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eConsequences Of Social Media Crisis\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is evident from the literature review that negative brand information can damage Brand Image, and Canada Goose also acknowledged that any negative publicity related to the perceived quality and safety of their products could harm their brand image (Figure D1). Findings of this research paper uncovered that Canada Goose did experience substantial amount of negative publicity during the crisis. Therefore, based on all these factors, it seems likely that the 2021 Social Media Brand Crisis of Canada Goose did harm its perceived Brand Image, at least for the time of the crisis and among certain consumer groups in China.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf so, though, this did not translate in an apparent loss in sales in China, actually, sales rose inspite or maybe even because of the Social Media Crisis. Canada Goose\u0026rsquo;s reported revenue showed (Appendix C, Figure C1) that DTC revenue in mainland China increasing 35.1% (Canada Goose Reports Results for Third Quarter Fiscal \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e and Revised Fiscal 2022 Outlook | Canada Goose Inc., n.d.) in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2022 (for the quarter ended January 2, 2022). This is an important finding considering the social media brand crisis of Canada Goose was reported as one of the biggest trending topics of 2021 on Sina Weibo (Koetse, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) and one would have expected loss in sales after experiencing so much negative publicity. However, there are number of reasons based on which it is possible to conclude that DTC revenue increase of 35.1% in China is justified.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst, the data findings reported in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e shows that only 17 popular hashtags on Sina Weibo created over 1.1Billiion views about Canada Goose, Canada Goose was one of the hottest trending topics on Sina Weibo in 2021, and Canada Goose was reported widely in the Chinese print and television media. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that Canada Goose brand awareness increased substantially in China in 2021 resulting in increased revenue.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecond, literature review of consumer nationalism showed that in 2003, Ogilvy \u0026amp; Mather, reported in their research an interesting finding dubbed \u0026ldquo;Patriot\u0026rsquo;s Paradox\u0026rdquo; that desire for Western brands among China\u0026rsquo;s youth is sufficiently strong to override patriotic sentiments unlike older consumers. Moreover, analysis of Sina Weibo and their user profile revealed that majority of Weibo users are young, within age group of 18\u0026ndash;29, compared to total online population. Because Canada Goose is considered a well-known western brand in China and around the world with majority of young customer base, it can be concluded that Chinese youth, including Weibo users, continued buying Canada Goose products regardless of SMBC.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNumber of Chinese social media sources and financial websites reported that Canada Goose\u0026rsquo;s stock prices dropped because of the customer return controversy (Figure C2, C3, C4).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOn December 3, the financial world reported that Canada Goose\u0026apos;s stock price fell sharply again. Yingwei Finance showed that the company\u0026apos;s shares fell 4.53% on Thursday to $39.41. With the fermentation of the return turmoil, Canada Goose\u0026apos;s stock price has fallen by 26.53% from its high of $53.64 on November 16, and its market value has evaporated by more than $1.5\u0026nbsp;billion (Lu, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the trending hashtags on Sina Weibo was #CanadaGoose\u0026apos;s market value has shrunk by over 8 billion# (In simplified Chinese #加拿大鹅市值缩水超80亿#). It stated,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCanada Goose\u0026apos;s stock price began to decline, especially after the recent negative events fermented, Canada Goose continued to plummet, and on December 1 (Wednesday), it fell by 7.42%, and finally closed at $41.28. The last 10 days cumulative decline has reached 22.23%, and the market value has shrunk by a maximum of 1.32\u0026nbsp;billion US dollars (equivalent to about 8.4\u0026nbsp;billion yuan) (Source: Sina Weibo)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo verify the drop in stock price, using stockanalysis.com, it was found that there was a sharp decline in the Canada Goose\u0026rsquo;s stock price during the period of November 30th, 2021-December 3, 2021, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e. However, this decline already started around November 15, 2020 and continued all the way until end of March, 2022.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIncidentally, in December 2018, CBC news reported (Appendix E, Figure E1) similar stock market impact on the Canada Goose shares, when Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese technology giant Huawei inc. was detained in Canada. The news stated, \u0026ldquo;Canada Goose shares have fallen for five days in a row after the outdoor apparel maker has become a target of Chinese consumers upset by the arrest of a high-ranking technology executive in Canada\u0026rdquo; (Evans, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the stocks of Canada Goose did drop during the peak of the crisis period, it cannot be concluded with certainty that this decline was due to the social media crisis in China.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere could have been several other external factors responsible for this decline, and it would require more in-depth analysis to reach any conclusion. Such an indepth analysis of the reactions and assumptions of investors and other capital-market participants goes beyond the scope of this research paper.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec40\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch3\u003eSummary\u003c/h3\u003e \u003cp\u003eBy analysing the case of Canada Goose in China using the case study approach, the research has uncovered how a seemingly routine store-level return/refund transaction failed and resulted into the social media brand crisis. Unlike in Canada, where Canada Goose has a flexible return/refund policy of 30 days, it had only 7 days return policy in China based on the local laws. The combination of perceived differential treatment and failure of a high expected standard of service from a luxury brand like Canada Goose, made the customer feel frustrated and resorted to complaining on social media.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs identified by the research, the social media brand crisis proceeds along the eleven discernible stages. The initial stages were trigger events and local responses before the issue reached social media. The moment the issue became public on social media, escalation and dissemination of the crisis began, followed by mitigation efforts from Canada Goose and involvement of the local Chinese government. The crisis then became a hottest trending topic on social media, and picked up by state and global media, escalating it even further into other western luxury brands. Finally, the crisis started subsiding when the indirect news of Canada Goose agreeing to revise its return/refund policy started circulating on social media and reached a stable state after Canada Goose officially announced the revised policy.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe netnographic and secondary data analysis found the Chinese grassroots nationalistic emotions, combined with consumer fairness seeking emotions and emotions resulting from pre-existing animosity towards Canada, were primarily responsible for fuelling the social media crisis. The study also uncovered that Sina Weibo facilitated fuelling of the crisis.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFurthermore, it was observed that consumer associations like blaming Canada Goose for double standard treatment, charging high price with inferior quality, showing arrogance, not following local Chinese policies, and poor customer service were related to consumer fairness seeking emotions. On the other hand, consumer associations like blaming the Chinese population for buying Canada Goose products, showing support for domestic brands, strong anti foreign sentiments, and asking to boycott or closure of Canada Goose in China were related to grassroots nationalism based emotions. There was also a significant presence of abusive and hate language toward Canada Goose, pointing towards Chinese cancel culture phenomenon. This phenomenon could have collectively resulted from grassroots nationalism, pre-existing consumer animosity towards Canada, and fairness seeking emotions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOne of the consequences of the social media brand crisis was increased brand awareness, resulting potentially in increased DTC revenue of 35.1% on a medium-term basis. Since the short-term sales data was unavailable, it was not possible to analyse and report it. Overall, Canada Goose stocks dropped substantially on both a short and medium-term basis. However, it was not possible to establish any relation between the social media crisis and the drop in stocks, because of the limited scope of this research. Because the crisis generated a significant amount of negative publicity and was reported extensively by the Chinese and global media, it must have negatively impacted its perceived global brand image.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTheoretical Implications\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study provides a rich and contextualised understanding of the social media brand crisis of a global brand in China through the intensive study of the Canada Goose case in 2021. It represents an essential step towards understanding how combined effect of grassroots nationalism, consumer animosity and consumer fairness seeking emotions could have led to the social media brand crisis of a foreign brand in China. The research provides a distinct perspective, since it is focused on a global brand originating from Canada, unlike prior studies which were based on the experiences of foreign brands from Japan, United States, Germany etc., in China. The study identifies various stages associated with social media brand crisis and highlights their relative importance in the crisis.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study was able to distinguish between the consumer nationalism and grassroots nationalism, which is primarily an extension of Chinese consumer nationalism in the digital space. Using robust case study approach and performing in-depth analysis using netnography and secondary sources of data, the study was able to identify and distinguish between Chinese grassroots nationalism, consumer animosity, and consumer fairness seeking emotions resulting from different service standards between home country of a foreign brand in China. In particular, the study was able to identify that Sina Weibo not only acted as a facilitator of the social media crisis, but also significantly intensified the speed and reach of the crisis. The study observed that combined effect of grassroots nationalism, consumer animosity, and consumer fairness seeking emotions could have collectively resulted into the Chinese \u0026ldquo;cancel culture\u0026rdquo; phenomenon.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRecently, during the pandemic, numerous trends have merged to nurture a cancel culture in China that distinguishes from countries like the U.S., where cancellations generally limit around perceived racist and sexual offenses. Like all of China\u0026rsquo;s cancel culture examples (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e), it can be said that any foreign brand making a minor or perceived insult at a time of heightened nationally sensitive issue, would be subjected to social media crisis and brand cancellation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLastly, the findings of this single-case study have the potential to draw analytic generalisation, and theoretical concepts of grassroots nationalism, consumer animosity, and consumer fairness seeking have the potential to address the external validity test of this research study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eManagerial Implications\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince a luxury brand like Canada Goose is relatively recognized by Chinese consumers and quite popular among them, it is necessary for relevant enterprises to reflect on the problems arising in internal management in a timely manner and make choices that are ethical and more in line with the best business practices.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhen the customer went back to return the item on October 28, it should have been a routine store level return/exchange transaction for a global luxury brand like Canada Goose. Nevertheless, this was not the case and instead resulted in a social media brand crisis. As reported earlier, counterfeiting is a huge burden for retailers and consumers as it can damage the retailers\u0026rsquo; reputation and destroy the consumers\u0026rsquo; confidence. One cannot overlook the fact that fake luxury products are more readily available in many countries outside of North America, and that luxury brands have a legitimate interest in protecting themselves and their honest customers from fraudulent returns and higher prices resulting from the costs of such fraudulent returns. Undeniably, there has been a trend among many luxury brands in many countries to be cautious with their return policy.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSince on the official website of Canada Goose, it made a clear promise to return goods without reason within 30 days, so ethically this promise should be aimed at all customers around the world, including China, and they should not discriminate between customers in different countries regardless of sales effects or risks of returns.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhen operating in China, it is important for a foreign brand to quickly get past social media crisis by making deliberate choices that show an understanding of the market; importantly, to immediately issue an apology when a scandal hits. As more and more global brands expand into the Chinese market, and because of China\u0026rsquo;s ongoing bitter relationship with Western countries, means that this type of social media brand crisis is likely to become more frequent in the years ahead.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLimitations And Future Directions\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe data collection for this study depended significantly on Sina Weibo, hence the findings of this study are not generalizable to all social media conversations happening among Chinese social media users during Canada Goose\u0026rsquo;s social media brand crisis. As Sina Weibo is heavily censored, many of the Weibo posts were deleted even before data collection began, restricting the access to these posts.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe research depended heavily on the secondary sources of data, mainly published materials in Simplified Chinese, and had to rely on Google Translate for translating Simplified Chinese to English, and thus limiting the access to data. Since this research used a sample of 350 posts from different social media posters, for netnographic data collection and analysis, many of these posts might have come from a certain internet tribe and may not be representative of the whole universe of the Chinese market and Canada Goose customers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eUnlike stage 3 and final stage, the topic clusters generated in stage 4 netnographic analysis were not checked for the inter-coder reliability score. This was mainly because the entire process was very time consuming, as it involved generating topic clusters by constant comparison of data and previously developed codes to generate a higher-level understanding and classification, and could not accommodate the assistance of a 2nd Coder.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFinally, future research should focus on using quantitative survey design to understand which consumer emotions of Chinese social media users can fuel the social media brand crisis of a global brand. This would further strengthen the understanding the emotions and associations arising in such a social media crisis. Using sophisticated sentiment analysis and social media listening tools compatible with Sina Weibo and Simplified Chinese, one would be able to record different stages of consumer sentiments and discussion. For example, discussion happening during Trigger, Escalation, Dissemination, Mitigation, Subsiding and Stable stages. This individual stagewise analysis would further enhance the understanding of the crisis and help with appropriate response strategy. Lastly, future research should combine social media brand crises of two or three different brands in China to generalise the research findings.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;I would like to express my gratitude to my immediate supervisor, Dr. Andreas Strebinger (York University, Canada), and second reader, Dr. Manfred F Maute (York University, Canada), for their invaluable feedback, guidance, and support throughout the development of this major research paper. I would also like to acknowledge the financial support provided by York University, Canada, which made this research possible. This paper was written as part of the requirements for completing a Master of Science in Management Practice program, and I am grateful for the opportunity to pursue this degree.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe author have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAaker, D.A. (1991), Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name, The Free Press, New York, NY.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAhluwalia, R. and G\u0026uuml;rhan-Canli, Z. (2000), \u0026ldquo;The effects of extensions on the family brand name: an accessibility- diagnosticity perspective\u0026rdquo;, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 371-381.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBeck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity. London: Sage.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBond, J., \u0026amp; Kirshenbaum, R. (1998). 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Wwd , 2. http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/mckinsey-report-china-key-target-luxury-brands/docview/2319455624/se-2?accountid=15182\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"York University","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"China, Social Media Brand Crisis, Grassroots Nationalism, Consumer Animosity, Consumer Nationalism, Cancel Culture, Sina Weibo","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2829334/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2829334/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSocial media brand crisis of a foreign brand in China suggests the sudden occurrence of many, mainly negative social media utterances against the brand. Understanding how such a crisis unfolds and what are related consumer sentiments on social media deserves managerial attention. This paper examines the case of a global Canadian brand, Canada Goose, when it experienced a social media crisis over its refund-policy and alleged use of double standards against Chinese consumers. By using case-study methodology, the findings of this research uncover the discernible stages along which the crisis proceeds and reveals the role of Chinese grassroots nationalism in fulling the social media crisis.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Antecedents, Sequence, and Consequences of Social Media Brand Crisis in China: The Case of Canada Goose 2021","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2023-04-19 15:02:33","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2829334/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d0d641b1-d3eb-486f-a7e4-32ec509cc271","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 19th, 2023","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":20786413,"name":"Marketing"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2023-04-19T15:02:34+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2023-04-19 15:02:33","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-2829334","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-2829334","identity":"rs-2829334","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"FbvkV6FR0MCFSLy54lSbu","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}