Contemporary consumers increasingly expect brands to take a stand on social and political issues, leading to growing academic interest in brand activism. This master’s thesis explores how different activist issues influence the perceived controversy of brand messages and how perceived controversy relates to brand attitude and consumers’ emotional responses. The role of personal values in shaping these responses was also examined. The study was based on three experimental scenarios including fictional advertisements for Nike: one neutral and two activist messages addressing different issues. Data was collected through an online questionnaire, where each respondent was randomly assigned to one of the three scenarios. The results show that consumers distinguish between traditional advertising and brand activism. One of the activist messages was perceived as significantly more controversial and was associated with a more negative change in brand attitude and a higher level of brand hate. No significant relationship was found between perceived controversy and brand love, while personal values did not significantly moderate the examined effect. The findings suggest that consumers’ responses to brand activism are also related to the issue addressed and the way the message is perceived. This thesis contributes to a better understanding of Slovenian consumers’ responses to brand activism and its potential consequences for companies.
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