This study adopts the consumer-centric perspective, through the lens of the consumer involvement theory and stakeholder theory, to examine the role of consumer involvement in shaping individuals’ attitudinal and behavioural responses toward Nike’s 30th Anniversary ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. Specifically, a survey (N = 345) was conducted to examine how consumers’ cognitive and affective involvement regarding the issue of NFL national anthem protests, their brand attachment, and brand attitude guide their attitudes and word-of-mouth intentions in response to Nike’s corporate social advocacy practices. The findings of this study suggested that consumers’ support for a company’s CSA efforts could depend on their involvement in the social issue that a brand chose as well as their involvement in the brand. Moreover, the interaction of issue involvement and brand attachment factors can serve as a segmentation strategy to cement brand loyalty and strengthen the relationship with the existing stakeholders whose issue attitude was congruent with the corporation’s stances. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

This study investigates the role of consumer–brand congruence and consumer–celebrity congruence in the formation of consumer attitudes toward brands and their impact on behavioral intentions within the context of corporate social advocacy (CSA) involving controversial celebrities. Using a U.S. sample drawn from a Qualtrics panel (N = 372), the results of mediation analyses indicate that attitude toward a brand positively mediates the effects of consumer–brand congruence on consumers’ behavioral intentions, including purchase intention, brand preference, and boycott recommendation. The consumer–celebrity congruence moderated the indirect effect of consumer–brand congruence on brand preference and boycott recommendations, but not purchase intention. The findings of this study contribute to the CSA literature and practices by highlighting the role of consumers’ congruence with a controversial celebrity in determining consumers’ behavioral responses to CSA. When brands practice CSA, consumer–brand congruence rather than consumer–celebrity congruence could play a more important role in shaping consumer behaviors.

Purpose: Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a theoretical framework, this study investigates individual level psychological determinants of individuals word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions as a way to support corporate social advocacy (CSA).Design/methodology/approach: An online survey (N = 505) using a Qualtrics panel was conducted.Findings: Individuals' attitudes towards WOM, subjective norms, and self-efficacy was positively associated with their positive WOM intention, whereas perceived controllability over WOM behaviors was not associated with WOM intention. Age was negatively associated with WOM intention.Originality/value: This study is one of the early attempts to test individual level factors in shaping individuals' WOM intention in response to CSA. This study also employed recent TPB argument and tested the role of self-efficacy and perceived controllability on behavioral intentions in the context of corporate communication. The findings of this study offer theoretical and practical insights to corporations when developing CSA campaigns and designing CSA messages.

Using a mixed-methods approach, this study explored how automobile companies in Saudi Arabia used Twitter to market to women after the Saudi Arabian government lifted its ban on women driving. All tweets from auto companies posted between September 26, 2017, and June 30, 2018, were examined. While a total of 11,028 tweets were targeted toward Saudi citizens during this historic period, only 184 tweets (less than 2 percent of the total sample) were found to be targeted toward women. The study further examined these 184 tweets and the 92 advertisements embedded in them using both quantitative and qualitative methodology. Using the lens of social learning theory, results suggest that auto companies were supportive of women and presented them as more independent and authoritative than has historically been considered typical for Saudi Arabia. This study offers some practical implications for professionals in the advertising industry.

The US FDA has authorized several modified risk tobacco products (MRTPs), permitting marketing claims around modified exposure (i.e. lower exposure to harmful substances compared to cigarettes). We propose that this FDA authorization may serve as a heuristic cue, influencing how people visually attend to the U.S. Surgeon General's warning to discourage tobacco use and perceive MRTPs and their marketing messages among young tobacco users and non-users. We conducted a 3 (claims: FDA-authorized modified exposure claim vs. the claim only vs. no claim) ×2 (tobacco use status: users vs. non-users) between-subjects factorial experiment with 88 young adults. Eye-tracking and survey data were collected during and after showing a one-minute commercial video for an MRTP, which included the claim and the warning. Participants exposed to FDA-authorized modified exposure claims spent significantly less time looking at the warning and reported greater intent to try the product than the other conditions. While visual attention to the warning did not differ significantly between tobacco users and non-users, tobacco users reported higher interest and intent to try the product. Additionally, there was a significant interaction effect between the claim condition and tobacco use; tobacco users rated the risk of a MRTP significantly lower than non-users only when exposed to the FDA-authorized claim. Our findings support scholarly concerns about the negative impact of FDA-authorized marketing claims for newer tobacco products on young people. Modified exposure claims endorsed by the FDA can reduce attention to risk information, making young people more receptive to tobacco marketing.

Philip Morris International's Smoke-Free Future (SFF) campaign pledged to replace conventional cigarettes with smoke-free alternatives, promoting smokers' health and combating smoking-related misinformation. We interviewed 25 college students to assess their perceived credibility of SFF messages and interest in smoke-free products. Nearly half couldn't identify a tobacco company as the message source, speculating it came from public health entities. Many overlooked profit motives, instead seeing SFF as genuinely supportive of smoking cessation and being aligned with public health. About a third found the message credible, citing factors like lay narrators and language/images signifying science. Most expressed interest in smoke-free products, driven by curiosity and misunderstanding of their health implications. Our study underscores concern that recent tobacco corporate communications may influence young people's interest in these products, even without explicit promotion, necessitating better education about industry tactics to disguise their identity with health and science initiatives, while undermining tobacco control efforts.