Constituency Building: Consumers’ willingness to participate in corporate political activities

Surveys show that Gen Z and Millennial consumers want brands to be more politically active with regard to the areas they care about. But how do consumers feel about brands asking them to be involved on issues that matter to the brand? Does activating one’s consumers help or hurt how consumers feel about the brand?

In July of this year Professor Clark Johnson and his colleagues published their research on this topic. Our conversation explores why consumers participate in corporate political activities on behalf of brands and the impact those activities have on consumer brand loyalty.

Topics include:

• How consumer participation in corporate political activities is different from corporate social action.
• Social exchange theory: what it is and how it works
• The six factors involved in consumers’ willingness to participate in political activities.
• Why obtaining and sharing third party information is so important.
• The implications this research has for marketing practitioners.

Click here for the research article  

The Up Next podcast’s access to this content is courtesy of the International Journal of Research in Marketing, an international, double-blind peer-reviewed journal for marketing academics and practitioners. IJRM aims to contribute to the marketing discipline by providing high-quality, original research which advances marketing knowledge and techniques. As marketers increasingly draw on diverse and sophisticated methods, IJRM‘s target audience is comprised of marketing scholars, practitioners (e.g., marketing research and consulting professionals) and policymakers.

IJRM  aims to be at the forefront of the marketing field with a particular emphasis on bringing timely ideas to market. The journal embraces innovative research with the potential to spur future research and influence practice. Hence, it welcomes contributions in various aspects of marketing. The editors, while accepting a wide array of scholarly contributions from different disciplinary approaches, especially encourage research that is novel, visionary or path breaking.

Dr. Clark Johnson (interviewed guest & corresponding author) is an assistant professor of marketing at Graziadio Business School, Pepperdine University. His current research interests are at the intersection of consumer and organizational behavior. He enjoys pursuing problem-focused research and studying issues that he has experienced first-hand. He is currently studying topics such as the impact of artificial intelligence on business research, digital marketing, intercultural negotiation and sales, cross-cultural advertising, and the nature of employee commitment, engagement, and job embeddedness. His research has been published in leading journals, such as Academy of Management Perspectives, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, and Journal of Food Products Marketing.

Co-authors:

Dr. Brittney Bauer is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the College of Business at Loyola University New Orleans, and holder of the Chase Minority Entrepreneurship Distinguished Professorship. She earned her dual Ph.D. in marketing and international business from Saint Louis University in 2019. Furthermore, she received a Certificate for University Teaching Skills from the Center of Teaching Excellence and a Research Methods Minor during her doctoral studies.

Dr. Brad D. Carlson is the James J. Pierson Endowed Chair in Marketing and Professor at Saint Louis University, as well as President-Elect of the Academy of Marketing Science. Brad has received multiple awards for excellence in teaching, service, and research and previously served as Director of the PhD Program in International Business and Marketing. His background in psychology and marketing communications provides a unique perspective into consumer behavior that influences his teaching and research, teaching marketing classes across all levels (undergrad, MBA, Executive Education, and PhD). Focused on consumer-brand relationships, branding issues and the frontline employee-customer interface, his research has been published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,  Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Advertising , and Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice among others. 

Follow & Learn More:

International Journal of Research in Marketing

• Latest Content here
• Follow on LinkedIn here

Clark Johnson (interviewee & corresponding author)

• LinkedIn
• Faculty Page 
• Google Scholar 

Brittney Bauer

• Faculty Page

Brad Carlson

• LinkedIn   
• Twitter 

The post Constituency Building: Consumers’ willingness to participate in corporate political activities appeared first on Up Next.