Author ORCID Identifier
Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Chambers College of Business and Economics
Department
Marketing
Committee Chair
Annie Cui
Committee Co-Chair
Xinchun Wang
Committee Member
Paula Fitzgerald
Committee Member
Shuili Du
Abstract
Brand activism—the explicit demonstration of a brand’s sociopolitical beliefs—has become increasingly prevalent and consequential. Concurrently, consumers now hold higher expectations for firms to engage in sociopolitical conversations, driven by the rise of belief-drive purchase in consumers’ decision-making and the growing ideological polarization worldwide. The interaction of brand activism and consumer behavior presents unique potential for brands to gain competitive advantages while contributing to social welfare. This dissertation comprises three essays that examine the effects of brand activism through multiple understudied yet compelling perspectives.
Essay One investigates how brand activism influences consumer-brand relationships through both transactional and relational lenses. This research identifies consumer-brand values deviation as a key predictor of purchase intention and brand loyalty. Notably, the impacts of brand activism are contingent on the sociopolitical cause concerned and consumers’ consumption goal. Specifically, consumer-brand values deviation has a more salient impact on consumer-brand identification when the cause is highly controversial or when consumers hold a hedonic consumption goal. This paper underscores the importance of considering both cause-level and consumer-level factors to develop a more nuanced understanding of brand activism.
Essay Two explores a critical challenge that multinational firms face when engaging in brand activism across global markets. Due to potential conflicting sociopolitical norms between the home country and the foreign country, multinational firms are motivated to conform to local norms and silent their sociopolitical values when they do not align with those of the foreign country. However, this research reveals that brand activism inconsistency leads to more negative brand evaluations, as consumers tend to perceive such inconsistencies as opportunistic. Furthermore, the impact of brand activism inconsistency on perceived opportunism is amplified when the consumer is highly allocentric or when a firm sends additional signals to indicate a responsible brand image. This work thus offers valuable insights into how multinational corporations effectively communicate their sociopolitical opinions across diverse cultural contexts.
Finally, Essay Three studies two strategic considerations in brand activism for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), namely breadth and depth of brand activism engagement. This research uncovers that the depth-oriented (vs. breadth-oriented) strategy is more effective at encouraging positive consumer word-of-mouth (WOM). This happens because consumers tend to perceive the brand that adopts the depth-oriented strategy as more charismatic. However, the relative effectiveness of depth-oriented strategy is dependent on consumer-brand identification. In other words, high consumer-brand identification can help increase perceived brand charisma when SMEs employ the breadth-oriented strategy, but the same effect does not occur when the depth-oriented strategy is utilized. This essay provides guidance for SMEs to leverage limited resources to achieve optimal potential outcomes through engaging in sociopolitical activism.
Collectively, this dissertation investigates several crucial aspects of brand activism and examines strategic considerations for firms engaging in sociopolitical activities. The findings not only contribute to a deeper understanding of brand activism but also highlight its complexity due to its social-laden nature. Given the significance of brand activism in shaping consumer behavior, designing marketing strategy, and influencing social welfare, the novel insights presented in this dissertation offer valuable implications for both scholars and practitioners.
Recommended Citation
Zhao, Lin, "The Effects of Brand Activism on Brand Performance" (2025). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 12758.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/12758