The Brand Sustainability Obstacle: Viewpoint Incompatibility and Consumer Boycott

Chih-Chien Wang,Pei-Ying Chen,Shu-Chen Chang

doi:10.3390/su13095174

Abstract

Brand equity is critical for brand sustainability. Companies participate in social issues to maintain brand equity by making the brand easily recognizable, superior in quality, and favored and affirmed by consumers. However, the ideological incompatibility between a brand and consumers may induce the consumers to adopt boycott action, which is an obstacle to brand sustainability. Before adopting boycott action, consumers consider the opinions of themselves and those of others. The opinion incompatibility between consumers is an influential factor for the consumers’ boycott intention, while individuals’ Attention to Social Comparison Information (ATSCI) is a moderate factor. This article conducted three studies that explored the influence of ideological incompatibility and ATSCI on boycott intention. Study 1 and Study 2 conducted an online and an offline experimental design to investigate the consumers’ boycott intention when a brand holds a different view from consumers on a debatable issue—same-sex marriage. Study 3 focused on the influence of ideological incompatibility between consumers and their relatives and friends regarding boycott intention. Individuals’ ATSCI is considered as a moderate factor. Based on these three empirical studies, we conclude that when a brand takes a stand on a debatable issue, it may be taking risks for brand sustainability since some consumers might boycott it because of ideological incompatibility. High ATSCI individuals may choose to follow the opinions of others and change their boycott intention.

Highlights

Based on the discussion mentioned above, we propose Hypothesis 2 as follows: Hypothesis 2: When an individual consumer’s viewpoint is incompatible with that of others, the attention given to social comparison information (ATSCI) will moderate the individual consumer’s intention to boycott
These results reveal that when individual consumers’ viewpoints are incompatible with that of the brand, they will have a higher intention to boycott that brand
Study 3 focuses on the moderated effect of Attention to Social Comparison Information (ATSCI) on the influence of viewpoint incompatibility on boycott intention

Summary

Introduction

The thinking of sustainability consists of three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic sustainability [1]. Companies are trying to be more responsible because of the mandated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy, and, sustainability through social factors is gaining more prominence [3]. An essential constituent of social sustainability, is important because it reduces economic transaction costs [4]. Social demands force firms to show off their present offerings to society concerning sustainability issues. Companies link their decisions to sustainability impacts—including societal effects [5]. Consumer-based CSR relations reveal a firm’s status and activities with respect to perceived social obligations [8]

Methods

Results

Conclusion