Brand Activism: Impact of Woke Advertising on the Consumers’ Attitude and Brand Perceptions Towards Purchase Intention

Abstract

As more and more consumers are becoming aware and interested in socio-political issues, brands are changing the way they advertise by communicating their stance on key issues on their advertising campaign; a strategy called woke advertising. Through this strategy, brands are taking up the responsibility of creating a lasting positive impact and meaningful contribution to society. However, instead of serving the desired purpose, some of these woke advertisements can backfire and generate negative responses. Thus, this study aims to analyze the impact of woke advertising on the consumers’ attitudes and brand perceptions towards their purchase intentions. The researchers conceptualized two (2) consumer concepts, namely 'passive woke consumers' and 'active woke consumers,' to further define what type of consumers they turn into. Moreover, the researchers conducted an experimental study to determine the changes in the behavior of the consumers before and after they see the woke advertisements. Three hundred eighty-five (385) participants from the National Capital Region were randomly selected based on the criteria developed by the researchers. Furthermore, paired t-test and descriptive analyses were utilized in analyzing the data. This study found out that woke advertisements enhance the overall consumer attitude and brand perception of Filipino consumers. However, they are not a major contributor in increasing their purchase intentions. It is then recommended for future researchers to consider studying other brands that did not have proper execution in addressing sensitive issues that caused negative feedback and controversy around the brand.

Adbusting: How advertising altered by activists affects brands

“…In turn, when the adbust merely draws attention to a social/political issue, brands may receive more attention, which is a common goal for marketers. These findings relate to existing research that studies how brand advocacy through advertising impacts consumers (e.g., Cristobal et al, 2022; Mukherjee & Althuizen, 2020) and underscores the importance for brands to consider the strategic implications of advocacy for social/political issues, even when their communications are used by activist groups.…”

“…Subsequently, adbusts often receive widespread attention online and in the press, thereby increasing the adbusts' impact on brands. While extant research has investigated the effects of brands promoting their products and image through advocating social and political issues (e.g., Cristobal et al, 2022;Eyada, 2020;Mukherjee & Althuizen, 2020;Zhou et al, 2023), less attention has been directed at cases where the brand is unwillingly the vehicle of activist communication.…”

Consumer attitudes towards woke advertising

“…U međuvremenu se pojavljuju istraživanja kojima se istražuje marketinški potencijal uključivanja poduzeća i marki u društveno-politička pitanja (npr. Bernard, 2019;Eyada, 2020;Korschun, 2021;Cammarota, Marino & Resciniti, 2021;Cristobal et al, 2022). Istovremeno, pregledom domaće literature utvrđeno je kako tema woke oglašavanja još nije privukla zanimanje znanstvenika.…”

“…Pojam woke (eng. probudio/la se) u kontekstu društvenih pokreta ima kompleksnu povijest te se izvorno koristio unutar afroameričke zajednice u SAD-u kao upozorenje na sustavni rasizam i za podizanje svijesti o društvenoj nepravdi (Cristobal et al, 2022). Tradicionalni rječnici dugo nisu uključivali ovakvo pojašnjenje pojma woke, budući da je proizašao iz afroameričkog žargona.…”

“…S obzirom na interes mladih generacija, poput milenijalaca i generacije Z, za društvene pokrete, poduzeća su primorana prilagoditi svoje oglašivačke strategije, što je rezultiralo rastom primjene woke oglašavanja (Sarkar & Kotler, 2018). Aktivizam marki može se učinkovito komunicirati woke oglašavanjem, pri čemu se poduzeća i marke javno izjašnjavaju o političkim i društvenim pitanjima, uključujući i promocije proizvoda odnosno usluga vezane uz takve teme (Cristobal et al, 2022).…”