...Rachel Esther Lim Purpose This study aims to examines how consumer advocates of the cause respond to value-aligned brand activism by drawing on identity fusion and consumer–brand relationship norms. Design/methodology/approach Four online experiments tested these dynamics. Study 1 assessed...

...Andrea R. Bennett; Laura Pricer; Courtney B. Peters Purpose While it is accepted that consumer demand has driven brand activism, it remains unclear which consumers desire brand activism, about what topics, how they may show support and why they think firms engage in such initiatives. This study...

...Gema Vinuales; Daniel Sheinin Purpose Brand activism can elicit backlash among consumers with opposing political views. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to understand the mechanism underlying negative consumer responses to brand activism; and (2) to identify strategies for mitigating...

... only Brand activism Brand identity Brand purpose Brand strategy Corporate social responsibility Purpose-driven branding Branding is a dynamic and evolving field of research (Keller, 2025 ; Veloutsou and Guzmán, 2017), with consumers increasingly expecting brands to address societal...

...Simon Beermann; Kirstin Hallmann Purpose This paper aims to investigate how confrontational (i.e. provocative or challenging messages) and nonconfrontational (i.e. inclusive, low-provocation messages) brand activism message framing influence perceived authenticity, brand attitudes, belief...

...Barbara Francioni; Roberta De Cicco; Ilaria Curina; Marco Cioppi Purpose his research aims to investigate the impact of brand activism on consumer perceptions and intentions. It explores whether activist brands are rewarded during performance-related crises and “penalized” during value-related...

...Aaminah Zaman Malik; Fayez Ahmad; Francisco Guzmán Purpose The impact of brand activism is gaining interest in consumer research and managerial practice. However, the consequences of brands being inconsistent in their support toward social issues remain unexplored. This paper aims to address...

... misaligned CPA than foreign brands. Originality/value This research advances the literature on brand activism and international marketing by showing how brand nationality moderates consumer reactions to misaligned CPA under specific conditions. It highlights the opposing effects of consumer nationalism...

...), the impact of consumer–brand values deviation on consumer–brand identification is strengthened. Research limitations/implications The study reveals that brand activism tends to be riskier under certain circumstances by uncovering the boundary effects of cause controversy and consumption goal...

... activism and consumers’ moral reasoning toward controversial brands, linking the notion of brand decoupling to brand activism discourse and introducing key underexplored aspects like the power of imagery, linguistic creativity and nostalgia. Moreover, it presents significant implications for a more nuanced...

...-developed area, with 42% of the papers having a CSR focus, 18% sustainable branding and 17% brand activism. Only 7% of the papers had a primary focus on brand purpose, with most published since 2020. Interestingly, as brand purpose articles increased within the set, CSR brand articles dropped, suggesting...

... identification (CBI) and political ideology in explaining consumer responses to brand activism. Furthermore, the role of perceived marginalization that can arise in the case of consumer–brand disagreement is explored. Design/methodology/approach The hypothesized effects were tested in three experiments...

... in this study. Noteworthy exceptions to these findings included the lack of evidence of the effect of informational justice on emotions, the effect of procedural justice on negative emotion and the effect of negative emotion on online brand advocacy. Originality/value This study expands brand activism...