Corporate response strategies in brand activism crises: The effects of deal, diminish and deny approaches on brand reputation and negative word-of-mouth

Lina Eppe and Christian Rudeloff
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Lina Eppe: Research Assistant, Department of Economics, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Germany
Christian Rudeloff: Professor, Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Journal of Brand Strategy, 2025, vol. 14, issue 2, 189-200

Abstract: Brand activism, defined as the practice through which companies adopt a public stance on social and political issues, has the potential to precipitate a swift backlash. Thus, it can engender a crisis for companies that differs significantly from ‘normal’ crises. In this context, this paper explores the effectiveness of different crisis response strategies in mitigating reputational damage and limiting negative word-of-mouth in a brand activism crisis. Through a 3 × 1 factorial online experiment (n = 213), the study examines the impacts of three response strategies: taking responsibility (‘deal’), minimising the issue (‘diminish’) and denying involvement (‘deny’). The findings indicate that the ‘deal’ strategy, wherein companies acknowledge responsibility, leads to a more favourable brand reputation and reduces negative word-of-mouth compared to the ‘diminish’ and ‘deny’ approaches. The study concludes by discussing the practical implications of these results for companies navigating brand activism crises. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.

Keywords: brand activism; brand reputation; brand attitude; negative word-of-mouth; crisis response strategy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aza:jbs000:y:2025:v:14:i:2:p:189-200

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