Social Responsibility and Brand Equity in the Era of Brands With a Social Purpose: Does Helping Refugees Help Brands?

There is a growing consumer preference for brands that get involved with social causes, and consider the welfare of stakeholders. The authors propose and test a framework of how consumer perceptions of social responsibility (and authenticity) affect consumer brand purchase behavior directly, as well as indirectly through the four dimensions of Brand Asset Valuator model of brand equity. Using survey data collected from more than 19,000 nationally representative consumers in the U.S., France, Germany and Italy across multiple product categories, the authors show that authenticity and social responsibility perceptions positively affect both brand equity dimensions (especially brand relevance) and customer purchase behavior. The effects are especially strong for millennials and consumers in the U.S. The authors then focus on one specific social cause, that is, brands’ efforts to alleviate the consequences of the refugee crisis. It is found that consumer response to brands helping refugees depends on the type of brand commitment, socio-demographics and personality traits. Humanitarian and cultural frames work best for eliciting support for refugee causes.