| Abstract [eng] |
Brand social activism is considered a significant strategic practice in contemporary marketing, whereby organisations publicly express a position on social, environmental or political issues and thereby shape their value-based stance in society (Kotler & Sarkar, 2018; Bhagwat et al., 2020; Vredenburg et al., 2020). However, such initiatives are evaluated ambiguously by consumers, since activism may strengthen brand value, yet it may also increase reputational risk when perceived as opportunistic or inconsistent with the brand’s identity (Bhagwat et al., 2020; Vredenburg et al., 2020; Lou et al., 2024). Academic literature suggests that consumer responses to brand social activism depend not only on the activist position itself, but also on whether such initiatives are perceived as authentic, consistent and supported by actual organisational actions. However, existing studies do not sufficiently explain how the perceived authenticity of social activism contributes to the formation of consumer trust in a brand. Although authenticity is often associated with more favourable consumer responses, its mediating role in the relationship between social activism and trust remains insufficiently empirically substantiated (Portal et al., 2018; Mirzaei et al., 2022; Cammarota et al., 2023). Therefore, this study addresses the research problem of how brand social activism and its perceived authenticity affect consumer trust in a brand. |
