Authentic brand activism or woke-washing? Consumers’ perceptions of brands engaging in socio-political activism.

Brands decide to increasingly take a stance on sociopolitical topics, also called brand activism. Important factors are a brand’s prior sociopolitical engagement and the activist marketing message. A (mis)fit of both was conceptualized as message-sociopolitical cause (in)congruence, consequently affecting consumers’ perceived (in)authenticity of brand activism. While perceived authenticity has positive effects on brand attitude, inauthentic brand activism efforts can have negative effects, like woke-washing accusations or boycotts. Consumers’ political ideologies were considered as moderating factors, as consumers are inclined to agree with brand activism efforts of their own political stance. By focusing on ad authenticity in the context of brand activism, this thesis aims to provide insights into effective brand activism. A 2x2 factorial experimental design between congruence, ad authenticity, brand attitude, and political ideology was employed. Respondents (N=138) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions, representing a combination of message-sociopolitical cause (in)congruence: inauthentic, absent, silent, and authentic brand activism. Respondents saw one ad for shampoo of an activist (Lush) or a non-activist brand (Axe), featuring an activist or a non-activist slogan. Results were analyzed through Hayes PROCESS. Limitations included respondents partially failing to identify the level of activist message and brand, suggesting that advertisement cues were not as clear as intended. Thus, the sample size of respondents correctly identifying the manipulation checks was small (N = 63), limiting the generalizability of findings. The results of the research failed to support previous research. Results showed no effect of message-sociopolitical cause congruence on ad authenticity, and political ideology did not moderate the effect. Ad authenticity had no effect on brand attitude. For the subgroup (N = 63), congruence had a significant positive effect on ad authenticity, which was moderated by political ideology, as liberals perceived the congruent ad more authentic compared to conservatives. For the subgroup, ad authenticity had no effect on brand attitude. The findings underscore the need to further examine brand activism advertisements to fully understand the effects on authenticity and brand attitude.