Signaling, Verification, and Identification: The Way Corporate Social Advocacy Generates Brand Loyalty on Social Media

Park, Keonyoung; Jiang, Hua

doi:10.1177/2329488420907121

Cited by 57 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Second, according to signaling theory (Spence, 1974) and social identity theory, a corporation’s CSR initiatives, when positively perceived by its publics, signify its goodwill, virtues, values, and commitment to society, driving the public perception of its integrity and reputation (Aguilera et al, 2007; Swaen & Chumpitaz, 2008; Weisband, 2009). Corporate integrity and reputation further lead to its stakeholders’/publics’ identification, trust, satisfaction, and behavioral loyalty (equivalent to commitment) to the corporation (del Mar García-De los Salmones & Perez, 2017; Park & Jiang, 2020; Pérez & Rodríguez del Bosque, 2015). As discussed above, it is logical to hypothesize that positive consumer responses (e.g., positive attitudinal evaluation and behavioral support) for a CSR initiative strengthen OPRs.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Media Influencers in CSR Endorsement: The Effect of Consumer Mimicry on CSR Behaviors and Consumer Relationships

Cheng

Chen

Hung‐Baesecke

2021

Social Science Computer Review

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a global norm for organizations to observe. In today’s shifting media landscape, social media influencers (SMIs) have become central actors in social-mediated CSR communication, connecting organizations and stakeholders by endorsing organizational CSR initiatives through self-generated messages. This study aimed to investigate how SMIs succeeded in creating positive behavioral and relational outcomes among consumers through the use of social media in the context of CSR communication. Data from a survey of 592 participants in the United States indicated that SMIs’ trustworthiness, expertise, uniqueness, and originality contributed to creating a desire in target consumers to emulate the SMIs who had endorsed a CSR initiative on Twitter. Consumers’ desire to do so drove their engagement in the CSR initiative directly, and indirectly did so through attribution of an altruistic motivation to the CSR initiative. Moreover, the target consumers’ CSR engagement and altruistic attribution further fostered their relationships with the corporation performing the CSR initiative. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Media Influencers in CSR Endorsement: The Effect of Consumer Mimicry on CSR Behaviors and Consumer Relationships

Cheng

Chen

Hung‐Baesecke

2021

Social Science Computer Review

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“…However, branding literature has no explicit reference to brave personality, its characteristics, and whether it could attract consumer attention. Some recent studies have discussed actions similar to Nike's Kaepernick campaign under brand activism (Mukherjee and Althuizen, 2020), and corporate social/political advocacy (Frynas et al, 2017;Hoffmann et al, 2020;Park and Jiang, 2020). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature also covers some ground in this context by discussing brands' voluntary activities to fulfill their obligations to various stakeholders, communities, and society (Coombs and Holladay, 2011;He and Harris, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brand bravery: conceptualization, scale development and validation

Jain

Jajodia

Sharma

et al. 2020

JPBM

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Purpose Brands today operate in a dynamic business environment, which often requires them to take courageous actions, from taking a stand on controversial issues to responding to changing market needs. However, these actions are not merely strategic but also represent a unique aspect of the brands’ identity, which includes holding up to their core values and being resilient to social pressure. To better understand this positive virtue, the current study introduces the concept of brand bravery – a novel brand archetype that emulates the brand’s distinct identity. This study aims to conceptualize brand bravery and develop a psychometrically sound scale to measure it and investigate its relationship with positive brand relationship outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Two qualitative studies were conducted to identify the dimensions of perceived brand bravery. Three empirical studies develop and validate the proposed measurement scale and confirm the construct’s nomological validity by proposing a framework that explains the outcomes of perceived brand bravery. Findings Results from multiple studies support a seven-factor second-order reflective scale of perceived brand bravery, with dimensions altruism, bold, courageous, determined, enduring, fearless and gritty. The construct of brand bravery is found discriminant from other conceptually distinct but related brand attributes. Nomological validity tests further suggest that perceived brand bravery leads to positive consumer-related outcomes such as brand advocacy behaviors, positive attitude and consumer brand identification. Practical implications Brand bravery provides a vital roadmap to marketers who have sought to create a leading brand that can stay relevant in times of disruption. The multi-factor scale can help managers track, which dimension of the brand bravery scale is more relevant for shaping overall bravery perception. Originality/value The study introduces a novel brand attribute that has not been previously discussed beyond social and moral psychology literature. It conceptualizes brand bravery that will strengthen the understanding of this specific brand characteristic and provides a practical scale to measure brand bravery.

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“…On this evidence, and given the tumultuous nature of today's society, one can therefore surmise that, increasingly, companies may become more interested in the more nuanced aspects of social-political and moral life that is often ignored in discussions of CSR (Afego and Alagidede, 2021). As such, there may be both moral and strategic imperatives for corporations to engage with important societal issues and to assume the same duties and obligations as other members of civic society (Park and Jiang, 2020).…”

Section: Corporate Social Advocacy Signalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That is, a commitment to actively engage and align with social causes that affect a broader group of stakeholders can improve financial performance. For example, CSA efforts can positively impact financial performance through consumers' purchasing intent, altruistic values and positive brand perception, all of which may increase the likelihood of consumers choosing the products of businesses that share their values (Dodd and Supa, 2014; Mikeska and Harvey, 2015; Chatterji and Toffel, 2019; Park and Jiang, 2020) [5]. Promoting values that they care about may also help firms to attract employees who are more motivated to perform, in part because of the opportunity to contribute to substantial social change.…”

Section: Literature Review and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have mainly used consumer purchasing intent and brand loyalty as proxy for financial performance, and employed mostly survey or social media data (e.g. Dodd and Supa, 2014, 2015; Mikeska and Harvey, 2015; Chatterji and Toffel, 2019; Park and Jiang, 2020) [3]. The present study extends the empirical literature by taking a stock market perspective, and using stock returns as a measure of firm financial performance, to better understand values/identity signalling within the context of CSA actions [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What does corporate social advocacy signal? Evidence from boycott participation decisions

Afego

Alagidede

2021

JCMS

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PurposeThis paper explores how a firm's public stand on a social-political issue can be a salient signal of the firm's values, identity and reputation. In particular, it investigates how boycott participation–conceptualized as a cue of a corporation's stand on important social-political issues–may affect the stock market valuation of that corporation, as well as how corporations legitimise their stand on the issues.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ a mixed-methods design that uses both qualitative techniques (content analysis) and quantitative methods (event study methodology) to examine a sample of US firms who participated in a boycott campaign that sought to call attention to issues of hate speech, misinformation and discriminatory content on social media platform Facebook.FindingsFindings from the qualitative content analysis of company statements show that firms legitimise their stand on, and participation in, the boycott by expressing altruistic values and suggesting to stakeholders that their stand aligns not only with organizational values/convictions but also with the greater social good. Importantly, the event study results show that firms who publicly announced their intention to participate in the boycott, on average, earn a statistically significant positive abnormal stock return of 2.68% in the four days immediately after their announcements.Research limitations/implicationsFindings relate to a specific case of a boycott campaign. Also, the sample size is limited and restricted to US stocks. The signalling value of corporate social advocacy actions may vary across countries due to institutional and cultural differences. Market reaction may also be different for issues that are more charged than the ones examined in this study. Therefore, future research might investigate other markets, use larger sample sizes and consider a broader range of social-political issues.Practical implicationsThe presence of significant stock price changes for firms that publicly announced their decision to side with activists on the issue of hate propaganda and misinformation offers potentially valuable insights on the timing of trades for investors and arbitrageurs. Insights from the study also provide a practical resource that can be used to inform organizations' decision-making about such issues.Social implicationsTaking the lead to push on social-political issues, such as hate propaganda, discrimination, among others, and communicating their stands in a way that speaks to their values and identity, could be rewarding for companies.Originality/valueThis study provides novel evidence on the impact that corporate stances on important social-political issues can have on stock market valuation of firms and therefore extends the existing related research which until now has focused on the impact on consumer purchasing intent and brand loyalty.

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Signaling, Verification, and Identification: The Way Corporate Social Advocacy Generates Brand Loyalty on Social Media

Cited by 57 publications

References 74 publications

Social Media Influencers in CSR Endorsement: The Effect of Consumer Mimicry on CSR Behaviors and Consumer Relationships

Social Media Influencers in CSR Endorsement: The Effect of Consumer Mimicry on CSR Behaviors and Consumer Relationships

Brand bravery: conceptualization, scale development and validation

What does corporate social advocacy signal? Evidence from boycott participation decisions

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