INVESTIGATING THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE BRAND ADMIRATION AND CONSUMER-BRAND CONNECTION WHEN BRAND TAKES A STAND ON SOCIOPOLITICAL ISSUES: A MIXED-METHOD STUDY IN INDONESIA

• Main Author: Iriani, Nadya
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/80044
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The current phenomenon involves consumers being more vocal and polarized in discussing social-political issues. Consumers also expect brands to articulate their values and actively participate by taking a stand on social and political issues. Brand activism is defined as the active engagement of corporations or brands in contentious and polarizing political and social dialogues within society. Examples of social-political issues include matters related to racial equality, immigration, social justice, and the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel. The study of brand involvement in social-political issues or brand activism has garnered attention from academics in the field of marketing. Previous research has extensively examined the impact of brand involvement in social-political issues on marketing outcomes, such as its effects on consumer behavior and attitude, purchase intention, brand perception, firm value, and market reaction and overall financial measurement. However, in this study, we argue that the impact of brand activism may not always be measurable through financial metrics but is more suitable within the realm of consumer-brand relationships. This is because brand activism operates in the domain of morals, ideology, values, and religiosity. By employing signalling theory, self-identity theory, and consumer-brand relationships perspectives, this study seeks to investigate the influence of brand activism on consumers' self-brand connection. This study employs a pragmatic paradigm that permits the utilization of multiple methods within a single study. The first step involves conducting an exploratory study through individual brainstorming and Focus Group Discussions (FGD). The FGD is carried out with six academics in the field of business to explore their general perceptions regarding brand participation in activism and identify potential factors shaping self-brand connection. Following the outcomes of the FGD and integrating them with the literature review, the researcher tests these factors through quantitative research. The quantitative research is conducted to examine the influence of perceived brand effort, perceived brand authenticity, perceived consistency, perceived sacrifice, and perceived moral courage on brand admiration. Additionally, this study aims to explore the impact of brand admiration on self-brand connection. This research investigates the effects of brand activism undertaken by Bittersweet by Najla in support of one of the countries involved in the contemporary Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is relevant to Indonesia. A total of 802 respondents were obtained through online research. Data analysis utilizes SEMPLS, as Structural Equation Modelling techniques enable the separation of relationships within each set of dependent variables, and its capability to assess both the measurement model and structural model. The results suggest that perceived brand effort, perceived consistency, perceived sacrifice, and perceived moral courage in brand activism have a significant relationship with brand admiration. This study also demonstrates that when consumers begin to admire a brand, it leads to the formation of a self-brand connection, even if it is not immediately reflected in consumer attitudes or purchasing behavior. In signalling theory, there is a process of decoding signals, in this case, the values that the brand aims to convey. In this study, we found that perceived brand effort, perceived consistency, perceived sacrifice, and perceived moral courage influence the delivery and interpretation of these cues. They may also impact consumers' perception of brand activism, leading to the creation of brand admiration and selfbrand connection. Brand admiration and self-brand connection serve as gateways to the formation of a relationship between consumers and the brand. In the long run, this can lead to brand recall and recognition, providing a pathway for the brand to attract new consumers.