Boycotting, buycotting or doing nothing : A quantitative study of corporate reputation in relation to political consumerism

Background: In previous years, Swedish company Na-kd has been promoted in the media due to allegations of poor working conditions. While this has potentially taken a hit on the company’s reputation, studying the relationship between corporate actions and perceptions of the public has been neglected. People engage in political consumerism to express their opinions regarding political, social, or ethical concerns, which could for example include boycotting (refusing to shop at) a specific company. Previous literature within the political consumerism and corporate brand reputation stream pays little attention to understanding the relationship between the two, which includes the impact of corporate brand reputation on political consumerism. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between political consumerism and corporate reputation, where corporate reputation is impacted by CSR, employer branding, corporate image, and crisis exposure. Method: This research has adopted a deductive structure and a quantitative approach where the Na-kd case was used as a stimulus/prompt. A non-probability sampling approach was used, and primary data was collected through an online questionnaire where results were exported and analyzed in SPSS software. The methods of analysis were correlations and the sample consisted of 114 female respondents in the ages of 18-35. Findings: To test the hypotheses Pearson’s Chi-Square test and Spearman’s rho was conducted and calculated to test the relationship and its strength between the chosen variables. The results proved to be significant, and all five hypotheses were supported, which concludes that corporate reputation is influenced by poor CSR activities, poor employer branding, negative corporate image, and crisis exposure which in terms affects consumer purchase decisions to boycott, buycott or doing nothing. Originality/Value: This research proves that there is a positive correlation between negative corporate reputation and political consumerism, which contributes to the political consumerism stream within the consumer research domain as well as literature about corporate brand reputation within the field of brand marketing