Defending social and political positions other than those that a company's clients might support has always been an avoidable risk. However, this practice, called ‘corporate activism,’ has gradually been integrated into the strategies of organizations. The object of this work is thus to understand the antecedents of corporate activism from the consumer's point of view. To understand this, we carry out structural equation modeling (SEM) based on a sample of 1,521 consumers. The results demonstrate that: (i) institutional credibility, corporate credibility, and authenticity act as antecedents of corporate activism; (ii) corporate credibility has a positive influence on corporate activism, while institutional credibility has a negative impact. These findings represent an interesting and novel contribution that helps to understand how these types of high-risk strategies should be adopted. The application of these results could enable companies to determine the conditions that favor a positive evaluation of corporative activism by consumers and avoid the use of such strategies in less favorable situations.

Nuria Villagra is professor of Brand Management and Corporate Social Responsibility at Complutense University of Madrid. Her current research interests include corporate branding, responsible brands, and CSR communication effectiveness. Her papers have been published in the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Communication & Society, Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, and elsewhere. She is a Senior Fellow and Co-director of the Branding and Integrated Communication Centre and a Research Fellow for the Iberdrola Chair of Economic and Business Ethics (Comillas Pontifical University of Madrid).

Joaquin Sanchez is professor of Marketing Research at Complutense University of Madrid. His current research interests include advertising effectiveness and brand equity valuation. His papers have been published in the Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Channels, and elsewhere. He is also member of the Branding and Integrated Communication Centre (Complutense University of Madrid).

Jorge Clemente Mediavilla is professor of Audiovisual Production at the Complutense University of Madrid. His current research interests include branded content and new advertising communication platforms. His papers have been published in the Review of Communication Research, The Information Professional, Communication & Society, and elsewhere. He is also director of the Center for Branding and Integrated Communication (Complutense University of Madrid).

Teresa Pintado is professor of Marketing Research at Complutense University of Madrid. Her current research interests focus on communication and consumer behavior. Her papers have been published in the Journal of Administrative and Social Sciences, the International Journal of Communication Research, and elsewhere. She is also author of several books, such as Marketing Fundamentals, or Corporate Image. She is a Research Fellow of the Center for Branding and Integrated Communication (Complutense University of Madrid).

*Corresponding author. E-mail: joaquins@ucm.es

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Voice by voicemaker.in

This was produced by Brandon Casturo

Villagra, N., Sanchez, J., Clemente, J., & Pintado, T. (2022). Deconstructing corporate activism: A consumer approach. Journal of Management & Organization, 1-15. doi:10.1017/jmo.2022.70

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-management-and-organization/article/deconstructing-corporate-activism-a-consumer-approach/EB666C77A972D7B5AABFF22658A95906