Citation

Zhou J, Zhao M, Huang H, Schwebel DC, Ning P, Rao Z, Cheng P, Li L, Hu G. China CDC Wkly. 2024; 6(14): 294-299.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention [China CDC])

DOI

10.46234/ccdcw2024.057

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Publics' reactions to corporate social advocacy (CSA) initiatives can be influenced not only by their agreement with companies' issue stances but also by their pre-existing perceptions of the companies involved. With the purpose of providing a more comprehensive understanding of CSA outcomes, this study draws on social identity theory and examines how consumer-company stance congruence in CSA interacts with consumer publics' pre-existing corporate attitude to influence their boycott and buycott intentions. Using real companies, two experiments were conducted with CSA on two socio-political issues: abortion laws (N = 258) and gun laws (N = 257). The results from Experiment 2 showed a buffering effect of positive pre-existing corporate attitude on publics' boycott intentions, when they have incongruent issue stances with companies. In Experiment 1, publics' perceived like-minded opinions opposing CSA were also found to boost their boycott intention. This study adds a nuanced understanding of the triadic consumer-issue-company dynamics in CSA from the social identity and public opinion perspectives, providing useful guidelines for CSA practices.

Language: en