Corporations operate in a social and political space, and as such they are not dissociated from social, political and legal problems. In order to achieve marketing excellence, corporations require marketing leaders who are able to navigate their capabilities, culture and employees, structure, metrics, motivation and control, as in this way corporations are able to continuously react to changes as a whole and adapt to market challenges. In this process, corporations increasingly use activism as a marketing tool. Companies become activist due to public pressure or because they want to bring about social change themselves. For companies, activism can be the next reasonable (and necessary) step taken to establish a good reputation of the brand and accelerate social change. For this reason, studying the effect of corporate activism on consumers is relevant, as it is important to be aware of the reciprocal effect of activist actions of both corporations and its stakeholders to achieve marketing success. By the means of a survey, this master’s thesis tries to determine consumer expectations, their reactions to activism of corporate brands and the importance of advocacy. Findings of this research can act as an important basis for future marketing decisions, corporate brand management and corporate communication in general.
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