Strategic B2B brand activism: Building conscientious purpose for social impact

Abstract

In the business-to-business (B2B) domain, brand activism is growing as a tool for attending to social problems and achieving brand differentiation. In this paper, we introduce B2B brand activism and conceive it as an emerging strategy that is enacted by firms within their supply chains and involves taking actions in relation to channel partners (e.g., firing professional services agencies, ceasing advertising spending with media outlets) based on the firm's avowed social and political purpose and values. We explore the ‘accelerators’ and ‘decelerators’ of B2B brand activism via in-depth interviews with B2B marketers. We find evidence for three main accelerators that expedite adoption of B2B brand activism, including (1) a need to maintain relevance via stakeholder communications, (2) an increased ability to track and use customer data, and (3) a need to respond to the power of end-consumers, B2B partners, competitors, and regulators. These accelerators exist alongside decelerators that restrain participation in purpose-driven practice— from (1) the need to ensure activism aligns with B2B purpose, to (2) the way marketers question their ability to enable long-term strategic change, and (3) a constant pressure to justify spending. We contribute to theory building by defining the conceptual framework for B2B brand activism.