Will Tesla sales fall to Elon Musk?

Over the past few years, seemingly eternal Dryf Elon Musk Elon ended with actions and statements that have caused broad controversy. Musk – visionary director general TeslaIN Spacex and the founder of X Corp – is a man in a mission to bring humanity to Mars. He is also the richest person in the world.

Recently, these controversies include his support and extreme right -wing support Alternative to Germany (AFD)dense Interpreted as Nazi salute During the inauguration of the presidential Donald Trump and the accusation election interference.

In January, the sale of Tesla cars fell Five European countries – Great Britain, France, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. Sales also fell in California – in the USA state with the largest car market. And at least according to One surveyMusk and his policy can be a significant part of the problem.

When general directors are publicly in their eyes, their personal brands and values ​​and the companies they represent can be tough to separate. Our studies have shown that often, human identity and reputation It will affect the identity and reputation of the CEO brand – and vice versa. As a human being, Musk’s personal actions and statements directly influence the companies he represents. His thunderous form makes it tough to separate these two.

That is why Musk’s controversial comments and political support alienated some Tesla consumers, especially on progressive markets such as Europe and California. In these places, Tesla was historically popular among environmental consumers. When the profiles of the general director and his brand are not aligned, this is a problem that can undermine the value of the brand both CEO and the company.

Artists, politicians, general directors and other public figures attract fans whose personal values ​​may sometimes differ from the value of figurines. During this time, the dedicated fans can be left in an impasse, how to respond to these data or products of companies or companies with which they are associated.

A widespread misunderstanding is that the struck fans are too obsessed to express their resentment. Instead, they probably follow blindly and defend their heroes. Intensive activities “Fan armies” On social media platforms they did not aid in these assumptions.

But in fact, our studies have shown that devoted fans can be critical. We have discovered that they are more likely than less devoted consumers to respond in extreme opposition when they feel betrayed by personality behavior with whom they identify or persist.

In the case of personality such as Musk, whose companies produce physical products, committed fans and consumers can react in many ways. Several hardcore fans of Tesla and musk loyalists can reject the criticism of his behavior as attacks on freedom of speech or their own beliefs. Regardless of this, they will probably still buy Teslas – and they can even adapt their beliefs to adapt to the beliefs of their “hero”.

Out of step

For other consumers, having Tesla may no longer signal only their beliefs about sustainable development. There may be a nod to political or ideological connections that are not in line with their own.

Some consumers may want to dissociate from Tesla if the behavior of musk is perceived as problematic in their social circle. However, as a purchase that requires a lot of commitment and commitment, switching from Tesla to another EV can be tough. A recent trend of placing Tesla owners Stickers with apology In their vehicles there is a way to negotiate the tension between having Tesla and the behavior of the CEO they do not agree with.

Stickers provide a way of separation from musk activities, while managing fear of perceiving negative in their social groups. This will probably cause a gradual erosion of the brand, not an immediate decrease in sales.

On the other hand, customers of companies such as the Brewdog craft brand – a company that in the past was accused of supporting Culture of fear – It can react more to bad CEO behavior. At least they can go to an alternative brand at low costs. (Brewdog, for his part, apologized and said it was “Obliged to do better”.)

And if the voters remain, they don’t like the inventor James Dyson’s The attitude in Brexit can be annoyed, but they are still able to justify the behavior of the subject of a medium value, such as a vacuum cleaner (which is finally used privately at home), until it breaks, perhaps switching to future shopping, not abandon.

Consumers can react in different ways when the general director of Figurhead is disappointing them. But brands taking blind, uncritical loyalty as Dan – even from devoted fans – do it in their danger.