The Impact of Social Media Brand and Consumer Activism
Authors:   , Guha Mithila , Andras Trina , Korschun Daniel 
Published: August 2023

This dissertation examines the intricate landscape of brand-consumer interactions on social media in the context of sociopolitical activism. The three essays of the dissertation explore different aspects of this field, such as gaps in existing literature, the determinants of brand activism strategies on social media, and the impact of brand-consumer dialogues on sociopolitical issues. The innovative approach taken in this dissertation involves the use of machine learning and text analysis methods, including topic modeling, semantic textual similarity, and sentiment analysis, to analyze millions of tweets related to sociopolitical issues. The first chapter of the dissertation is a comprehensive examination of existing literature on consumer and brand activism. Using a framework-based analysis method on 52 peer-reviewed academic articles published in top-tier journals between 2000 and 2023, the study employs the Theory-Context-Characteristics-Method (TCCM) literature review approach to evaluate current activism literature. However, the chapter also highlights the limitations of the framework in fully capturing the complex dynamics of activism. To address this gap, the chapter introduces a novel four-step literature review methodology that incorporates an "ACTION" framework, providing a more nuanced understanding of consumer and brand activism. The study identifies significant gaps in current research, emphasizing the need for further investigation into the impact of consumer activism on targeted brands, a comprehensive understanding of the drivers and mechanisms of brand activism strategies, and the role of brand-consumer dialogues in the mechanism of activism. The second chapter of the dissertation aims to fill the research gaps identified in the first chapter by investigating the drivers and mechanisms behind brand activism strategies. Specifically, the research focuses on how the largest brands respond to sociopolitical issues, such as Black Lives Matter, COVID-19 policies, or LGBTQIA issues, when their peers and consumers tweet about them. The study reveals that brands evaluate the potential risks of taking a stand or remaining silent by monitoring the social media activities of both peer brands and consumers. Contrary to conventional wisdom, brands are equally attentive to the activism of peers outside their industry as they are to direct competitors inside their industry. In the third essay of this dissertation, the focus is on exploring the influence of consumer activism on brands through conversations on controversial sociopolitical issues, such as the 2022 Russian invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. This area of research was identified as a gap in the initial literature review. The study investigates the effects of consumer "callouts" and "shoutouts" on brands and reveals that brand activism is connected to both types of interactions. Furthermore, the study provides a thorough understanding of how consumer activism on sociopolitical issues may affect performance of targeted brands through brand-consumer dialogues. The findings indicate that shoutouts have a positive correlation with the brand's stock market performance, while callouts have a negative impact on both user engagement and daily stock returns. In summary, the three chapters of the dissertation build upon each other to provide a comprehensive understanding of brand and consumer activism. The first chapter provides a comprehensive review of the literature and identifies key research gaps, proposing a novel framework to connect both consumer and brand activism through two-way brand-consumer dialogues. The second chapter addresses a crucial knowledge gap in understanding the antecedents of brand activism decisions on social media, offering insights into how brands can effectively leverage data from peer brands' recent activist statements to determine their own activism strategies. Finally, the third chapter introduces a novel approach to quantify social media consumer activism by utilizing the auditory associations of "shoutouts" and "callouts" to categorize the tones of consumer social media activism. This chapter's findings contribute to the understanding of the impact of brand and consumer sociopolitical activism, highlighting the importance of multi-actor dialogues in comprehending the complex relationship between brands and consumers. Overall, this dissertation provides valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in understanding the importance of brand-consumer sociopolitical dialogues on social media and navigating the complexities of social media activism. Brand managers can use the findings to effectively engage with consumers on social media and make informed decisions about their activism strategies, while academic researchers can gain a deeper understanding of the drivers and impact of brand-consumer interactions on social media on divisive sociopolitical issues. Across the three chapters, the dissertation highlights the importance of understanding the complex dynamics of social media activism and the potential for brands to make a positive impact on society while building relationships with their customers.