Activist Brand Perception Scale

What it measures

This scale captures how consumers perceive brands that publicly engage in activism on social or political issues. It distinguishes two facets of that perception: whether the brand's activist engagement feels genuine and sincere, and whether the brand is seen as visibly and openly committed to its stance rather than staying quiet about it. The instrument was built across six studies moving from qualitative construct definition through item generation, purification, and cross-validation, and is designed to be non-context-specific so it can be applied to any brand engaging in activism on any controversial issue.

Scale items

Authenticity of Brand Activism

• An activist brand is genuine about its activist engagement.
• An activist brand is authentic in its activist engagement.
• An activist brand is true to its stance on a controversial issue.
• An activist brand is completely dedicated to its activist engagement.
• An activist brand has a reliable stance (support or opposition) on a controversial topic.

Public Commitment to Brand Activism

• An activist brand publically communicates its stance on a controversial sociopolitical issue.
• An activist brand publically expresses its stance on a controversial sociopolitical issue.
• An activist brand is not silent about its stand on a controversial sociopolitical issue.

Citation

Saracevic, S. and Schlegelmilch, B.B. (2024). Activist brand perception: Conceptualization, scale development and validation. Journal of Business Research, 180, 114732.