ANTECEDENTS AND EFFECTS OF CORPORATE ACTIVISM: A CONSUMER-BASED APPROACH
(A2021-93855)

AUTHORS

Nuria Villagra, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Joaquín Sánchez Herrera, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM); Teresa Pintado Blanco, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM); Jorge Clemente Mediavilla, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Carlota López Aza, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)

ABSTRACT

More and more companies have decided to openly express their social or political stance, even if this goes against the beliefs and values of their consumers. This phenomenon, known as corporate activism, is one of the topics highlighted in the “MSI Research Priorities 2020–22” report, and is the main focus of this paper exploring the antecedents and effects of corporate activism from a consumer perspective. For this, a survey of 1,521 consumers was carried out, demonstrating that: (i) the deterioration of institutional trust causes an increase in support for initiatives related to corporate activism, (ii) trust in corporations and their authenticity has a positive effect on the assimilation of corporate activism, and (iii) a positive influence on the reputation and brand value of companies that adopt corporate activism initiatives can be observed.