Background:            

Consumers have increasingly expected brands and CEOs to take stances on sociopolitical topics in the past decade. This is reflected in the rise of political consumerism, where consumers express their values through boycotting and buycotting. Due to this pressure, CEOs and brands have increasingly taken public stances on sociopolitical issues. Prior research has explored brand and CEO activism and the impact of moral framing, such as authenticity and hypocrisy; however, less is known about how these sources of activism shape political consumerism differently. The present study aims to address this gap in the literature by examining the differences between brand-led and CEO-led activism.

Purpose:                    

This study investigates how the source of activism (CEO vs. brand) and the moral framing of the message (authenticity vs. hypocrisy) influence Gen Z European consumers’ political consumerism intentions. Understanding these differences will help organizations to optimize their activism strategies and effectively engage with socially conscious consumers.

Method:                    

For this study, a 2×2×2  between-subjects experimental design was conducted with a European Gen Z sample (N=261). Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight experimental groups. The participants were exposed to an X post by a CEO or brand. This post was accompanied by a brief background about the CEO or the brand. The background was framed as either hypocritical (high/low) or authentic (high/low).

Conclusion:  

The findings revealed that while the overall level of political consumerism intentions did not differ based on message source, the type of intention does: while brand activism led to higher boycotting intentions, CEO activism led to higher buycotting intentions. Authenticity and hypocrisy significantly influenced political consumerism, but their impact did not depend on the source of the message. These results explain how European Gen Z consumers’ political consumerism intentions change based on the moral framing of the activism and messenger type.