Going against the Tide: How Self-Construal Moderates Receptivity towards Popular Brand Activism

• Consumers’ self-construal can affect responses to brand activism. • Independents favor brands that oppose a popular view on a socio-political issue. • Both independents and interdependents favor brands that support the popular view. • Independents perceive brands that oppose the popular view as bold and courageous. Many brands in today’s marketplace choose to take a public stance on socio-political issues. For example, some brands have indicated support for or opposition to Israel, while there are brands that support or oppose same sex-marriages. This research examines the type of consumers to whom a brand supporting or opposing socio-political issues might appeal. Specifically, we focus on consumers with independent versus interdependent self-construal. Four studies offer evidence that independents consider brand activism that opposes prevailing public opinions regarding socio-political issues as “bold” and “courageous”. By contrast, independents and interdependents equally favor brands that support such majority public opinion. We discuss the limitations of these results and offer guidance for future researchers and brand managers. We situate our findings within the American political discourse and marketplace, discuss the relevance of our results for brands that are interested in activism, and acknowledge limitations to our work.