Towards Shared Responsibility in Online Environments: The Consumer Brand Safety Engagement (BSE) Scale
(A2026-133170)

AUTHORS

Stefanie Sohn, University of Southern Denmark; Larysa Luzinska, University of Southern Denmark

ABSTRACT

This research introduces and validates a new construct, Brand Safety Engagement (BSE), that captures the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral ways in which consumers engage with brand safety in online environments. While existing literature identifies brand safety risks such as unsafe adjacency, data breaches, and sabotage, and customer perceptions of a brand’s safety, it largely overlooks consumers’ proactive role. Drawing on engagement theory, we conceptualize BSE as a second-order construct with three dimensions and develop a reliable nine-item scale across six studies in the US and UK. Results show that consumers’ online safety knowledge positively influences BSE and, in turn, enhances their well-being in digital transactions. This research extends engagement theory and brand safety literature by identifying consumers as active agents in brand safety.