The Impact of Beliefs on Consumer Responses to Corporate Activism Initiatives
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2024
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| Filename | Description | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thesis.pdf | thesis | 2.47 MB |
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Brands are increasingly voicing their positions on controversial social issues like gun control and racial equity, a practice called corporate activism. Consumers’ reactions to corporate activism are divided partly due to their differing beliefs, making it risky for brands. The present thesis advances our understanding of how consumers’ beliefs impact their responses towards brands engaging in corporate activism. Specifically, the first essay investigates how consumers’ political ideology affects their reaction towards a brand’s stance on a controversial issue. I adopt an experimental methodology to demonstrate that consumers respond positively to a brand’s stance that is congruent (vs. incongruent) with their political ideology. Further, I show that these effects are driven by perceived brand warmth, while perspective-taking attenuates the joint impact of a brand’s stance and political ideology on brand outcomes. The second essay examines how power distance belief and religiosity impact consumer reactions toward a brand. The research builds on established corporate social responsibility research and adopts an experimental methodology. I show that willingness to pay and advocacy intentions are higher following a brand’s adoption (vs non-adoption) of diverse racial representation (DRR) policy. Notably, the positive effect of DRR adoption on brand outcomes was greater among consumers with low (vs. high) power distance belief, driven by perceived altruism. Further, I identify religiosity as a boundary condition that mitigates the negative effect of the DRR policy adoption among consumers high in power distance belief. The third essay examines the determinants and outcomes of brand trust. I develop a framework based on legitimacy and commitment-trust theories and adopt a survey methodology to show that corporate ability, corporate social responsibility, and perceived corporate activism legitimacy are predictors of brand trust. I further demonstrate that brand trust and perceived corporate activism legitimacy positively affect word-of-mouth and repurchase intentions. Overall, these three essays make a significant contribution to the branding and marketing literature by establishing when and how consumers respond positively or negatively towards a brand’s position on controversial social issues, with substantive implications for managers.
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