Paurav Shukla, Veronica Rosendo-Rios, Dina Khalifa
{"title":"EXPRESS: Should Global Brands Engage in Brand Activism?","authors":"Paurav Shukla, Veronica Rosendo-Rios, Dina Khalifa","doi":"10.1177/1069031x241270606","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Brand activism, taking a stance on current and divisive socio-political issues, has emerged as a novel means of expressing a brand’s values and engaging with the firm’s customer base. Yet, globally, companies lack conclusive guidance on the consequences of taking a stance. This research asks a novel question: should global brands engage in activism? Using varying activism manipulations (e.g., statements and actions), five studies reveal consumer preference for activist global brands. More importantly, guided by schema change theory, the authors find that the positive brand activism effect is particularly strong for global brands associated with negative brand origin irrespective of consumers’ prior attitude valence. However, brands with positive origin associations benefit from activism only when consumers’ prior attitude valence is in alignment. The authors also identify the mediating effects of self-brand connection, which has downstream consequences for behavioral intentions. Taken together, this work sheds new light on consumer perceptions of brand activism across cultures, elucidates why consumers prefer global brands that engage in activism and offers actionable insights for global brand managers.","PeriodicalId":48081,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Marketing","volume":"66 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of International Marketing","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1069031x241270606","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Brand activism, taking a stance on current and divisive socio-political issues, has emerged as a novel means of expressing a brand’s values and engaging with the firm’s customer base. Yet, globally, companies lack conclusive guidance on the consequences of taking a stance. This research asks a novel question: should global brands engage in activism? Using varying activism manipulations (e.g., statements and actions), five studies reveal consumer preference for activist global brands. More importantly, guided by schema change theory, the authors find that the positive brand activism effect is particularly strong for global brands associated with negative brand origin irrespective of consumers’ prior attitude valence. However, brands with positive origin associations benefit from activism only when consumers’ prior attitude valence is in alignment. The authors also identify the mediating effects of self-brand connection, which has downstream consequences for behavioral intentions. Taken together, this work sheds new light on consumer perceptions of brand activism across cultures, elucidates why consumers prefer global brands that engage in activism and offers actionable insights for global brand managers.
期刊介绍:
As the globalization of markets continues at a rapid pace, business practitioners and educators alike face the challenge of staying current with the developments. Marketing managers require a source of new information and insights on international business events. International marketing educators require a forum for disseminating their thoughts and research findings. Journal of International Marketing(JIM) is an international, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing international marketing practice, research, and theory. Contributions addressing any aspect of international marketing management are published each quarter.