Spurring and sustaining online consumer activism: the role of cause support and brand relationship in microlevel action frames

Iago S. Muraro (), Kjerstin Thorson () and Patricia T. Huddleston ()
Additional contact information
Iago S. Muraro: University of St. Gallen
Kjerstin Thorson: Michigan State University
Patricia T. Huddleston: Michigan State University

Journal of Brand Management, 2023, vol. 30, issue 5, No 6, 477 pages

Abstract: Abstract Research suggests that social media consumer activism can be motivated through multiple microlevel action frames (MAFs – or simply, microframes). In this study, we examine an online consumer activism campaign against the supermarket chain Carrefour in Brazil and develop a typology of microframes that emerged during this episode of consumer activism. We leverage Twitter data to illustrate the distinction between cause-oriented (centered on animal rights issues) and brand-oriented MAFs (emphasizing consumer disappointment in Carrefour) and examine their influence on the emergence of other online consumer activism microframes. Our findings reveal the complex interplay between cause support (cause-oriented MAF) and perceptions of a brand transgression (brand-oriented MAF) to galvanize collective action. We theorize the roles of distinct MAFs in spurring and sustaining consumers’ online mobilization. Practical recommendations for brand managers are discussed.

Keywords: Consumer activism; Collective action framing; Microframing; Boycotting; Computational research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41262-023-00322-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:jobman:v:30:y:2023:i:5:d:10.1057_s41262-023-00322-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41262

DOI: 10.1057/s41262-023-00322-z

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Brand Management is currently edited by Joachim Kernstock, Shaun M. Powell, Mark Davies and Ur a Golob

More articles in Journal of Brand Management from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().