In this episode Barbara and Americus are joined by two guests. Neeru Paharia, who is the Associate Professor of Marketing at Georgetown University; and Dr. Chris Hydock who is an Assistant Professor at Cal Poly's Orfalea College of Business.
Together they've written a research paper "Should Your Brand Pick a Side? The Moderating Effect of Choice Share on the Consequences of Corporate Political Advocacy.” Consumers increasingly expect brands to “pick a side” on divisive sociopolitical issues, but managers are reluctant to risk alienating customers who oppose their position. In recent years we have seen a lot of brands taking polarizing positions, for example, in 2012 the fast food enterprise Chick-fil-A released a series of public comments opposing same-sex marriage by the CEO, and since doing so a number of related issues and backlash have arisen between the international fast food restaurant and the LGBT community.
The methodology for the data that was comprised for the paper was primarily done by running experiments, and whether or not a company should take and promote a polarizing sociopolitical stance depends on several factors. Such as market share, category competition, and if the risks outweigh the benefits or vice-versa.
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