Brand Activism: A survey on the level of consumer awareness and involvement.

The paper aims to understand the level of public awareness and involvement in BA and to analyze the effects that brand positions arouse in terms of divisive and polarizing behaviours. In particular, an attempt was made to investigate the differences in the perception of BA between the new and old generations, by focusing the study on the following research questions: RQ1: What consumers think about companies/brands taking a stand on certain social, environmental and political causes? Do they inform about these aspects before purchasing? Are they willing to pay a premium price for those brands supporting such causes? RQ2: How do consumers generally consider the BA phenomenon (positive and urgent or negative and marginal)? Do they trust activist businesses, and how do they feel about their level of authenticity? RQ3: How much consumers are willing to contribute to BA initiatives and what is their propensity to boycott or buycott brands?