1. Introduction
From an early age, organizations realized they have broader responsibilities towards society that go beyond business profitability and wealth creation [1,2]. In fact, many companies began to understand the importance of investing in social strategies when they were surprised by negative public responses to their management practices, which highlighted the potentially large financial risks for any company whose conduct is considered unacceptable [3].
Initially, corporate social investment involved holding companies accountable for creating a balance between economic, social, and environmental performance and the well-being of all stakeholder groups, mostly embodied in CSR policies [4]. In this way, the study of companies’ social strategies began to fall within a philanthropic–strategic framework, in which companies can simultaneously achieve social and corporate objectives [5]. Under this perspective, several investigations have proven the positive impact of companies’ social initiatives on corporate reputation [6], consumers’ willingness to pay more [7], strengthening organizational commitment of employees [8], and improving the organization’s financial performance [9].
However, in an increasingly pluralistic and participatory world, progress in understanding social strategies such as CSR is evolving towards other theoretical concepts, with greater focus on the social, economic, and political changes that the implementation and effective communication of these corporate strategies can generate, as is the case with brand activism [10]. In fact, the increase and maturation of CSR efforts over the years, combined with the greater economic power of companies and the polarization of society, has led to the stakeholder’s vision of corporations as moral and socially conscious entities, with a markedly political character and with the power and duty to address society’s problems and needs [11].
In this sense, brand activism arises from the growing expectation of stakeholders that companies should take public positions on issues relevant to society and contribute in some way to their improvement and resolution [12]. This values-based strategy thus emphasizes the inherent company values relative to the issue addressed, which can range from social issues, such as LGBTQIA+ rights, racism, or human rights, to environmental topics, such as climate change or nature conservation issues, as well as matters regarding political interests, tax laws, workplace problems, social security issues, among others [13]. Indeed, with the increase in environmental problems, the notion of sustainability and sustainable development becomes part of business operations, with multiple activism campaigns focusing on environmental issues beginning to emerge [10].
One of the groups of stakeholders that has been actively claiming a social role for organizations regarding the environment are employees, who have more direct contact with the organization’s environmental policies compared to other stakeholders, and are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of the company they work for [14]. This encourages companies to increasingly participate in environmental brand activism campaigns, communicating them internally, and involving their employees in these actions, which also results in promoting positive attitudinal changes in employees regarding the causes addressed by the company, thus creating a circle suitable for social change [15]. Such impact, in addition to being direct, can also occur indirectly when enhanced by strengthening the employee’s identification with the organization, that is, the perception of unity between the employee and an organization/company [16], or by an emotional response to the social conduct of companies, called moral elevation [17].
Despite the relevance of the area, research on the possible impacts of corporate social actions such as brand activism in promoting attitudes that favor positive social change is still scarce, opening a line of investigation with plenty of potential to be explored. In this way, this article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the broader impacts of brand activism, bringing together some Portuguese empirical research that demonstrates how environmental brand activism campaigns can impact the pro-environmental attitudes of brand employees. Specifically, this article seeks to answer the research questions “Does environmental brand activism positively impact employees’ pro-environmental attitudes?” and “Is such impact mediated by identification with the organization and moral elevation, generated through brand activism actions?”, analyzing the extent to which the brand activism of a Portuguese high-consumption retail company has influenced the attitudes in favor of the environment of its employees, either directly or through the mediating role of identification with the organization and moral elevation, generated through these campaigns. First, the concepts of brand activism and pro-environmental attitudes will be theoretically explored, as well as their direct and mediated correlations by identification with the organization and moral elevation. Next, the direct and mediated impact of brand activism on employees’ pro-environmental attitudes will be empirically tested by carrying out a quantitative study with data from 324 employees of a Portuguese retail company. The results showed that the sample demonstrated a positive perception of the brand’s environmental activist campaigns, also demonstrating high levels of attitudes in favor of the environment, identification with the organization, and moral elevation. Likewise, it was found that environmental brand activism actions positively impacted employees’ pro-environmental attitudes, while identification with the organization positively mediated the impact of environmental brand activism on employees’ pro-environmental attitudes. However, moral elevation did not exert any mediating effect on the relationship between environmental brand activism and employees’ pro-environmental attitudes. The article ends with conclusions about how companies’ activism strategies can thus generate positive social changes and contribute to sustainable development, especially in the Portuguese context, also providing insights into future research in the brand activism field.
2. Theoretical Foundations
2.1. The Concept of Brand Activism
The study of companies’ social strategies over time has brought the reconceptualization of the social role of businesses, analyzing the social responsibilities of companies not only from the point of view of business ethics and philanthropy, but involving corporations in the response to global public issues, assuming a state-like role [18]. This vision goes beyond traditional CSR or cause-related marketing campaigns to include broader societal issues and business participation in public welfare, leading to the consideration of corporations as a citizen-entity and the development of the concept of brand activism as an effective strategy for companies to demonstrate their position on relevant sociopolitical issues [10,11,19].
From an organizational perspective, Sarkar and Kotler [10] (p. 570) saw the new phenomenon of brand activism as a natural evolution of CSR and environmental, social, and governance programs, defining the concept as the “business efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, and/or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to promote or impede improvements in society”. Corvellec and Stål [11] defined brand activism as corporate efforts to actively shape their institutional environment by influencing the nature of competition, existing legislation, or social standards. In the same line, Eilert and Cherup [19] stated that brand activism refers to a company’s willingness to take a stand on social, political, economic, and environmental issues to create societal change by influencing the attitudes and behaviors of actors in its institutional environment. In this type of strategy, as advocated by Moorman [20], brands become not only activists, but also educators, contributing to triggering social changes essential for the creation of a more egalitarian and sustainable society.
In this view, the company’s mission is thus intrinsically linked to social change [20], since the company has the power and resources that allow it to contribute to breaking down barriers that prevent or limit a social, political, economic, and/or environmental issues from moving towards a solution [13]. Such barriers may be associated, for example, with a lack of awareness on the subject (e.g., new social problem, lack of information, subjects considered taboo, etc.), negative attitudes towards the social issue, polarization, established social norms, lack of motivation, among others, which, in most cases, are deeply rooted [19,21]. As argued by Heding et al. [22], brands are currently part of the dominant culture, so they can reinforce stereotypes, patterns, and concepts or can help to break them, participating in the construction of new ones by taking a strong position on relevant sociopolitical issues and contributing to a positive change.
Thus, analyzing various definitions and examples of brand activism actions, Vredenburg et al. [12] argued that this strategy has four main characteristics as follows: (1) brand activist actions are guided by values, assuming stronger purposes than the pursuit of profit by seeking primarily to contribute to a broader public interest and sociopolitical objectives, rather than directly increasing product/service sales [23,24]; (2) brand activism goes beyond the socially acceptable to address controversial, contested, or polarized sociopolitical issues, challenging social conventions, so brands run the risk of alienating certain stakeholder groups [20]. Brand activism often addresses causes or events where the public opinion is disparate, so by choosing to address social issues, the company’s positioning on these topics become part of the brand’s identity, which can strengthen the brand–stakeholder relationship but also alienate certain stakeholder groups if they do not agree with the company’ stance [13]; (3) brand activism is characterized by the adoption of progressive or conservative stances on sociopolitical issues depending on what organizations consider beneficial to society, addressing any sociopolitical issue across the political divide [20,25]; and (4) brand activism involves both intangible (messaging) and tangible (practice) commitments to a sociopolitical cause, including but going beyond advocacy/messaging [24] to involve alignment with corporate practices that uphold its purpose and values.
In this way, brand activism assumes a different objective from traditional business results, such as increasing market share, profits, or brand equity, aiming mainly to guide the company/brand towards the common good and associating it with intangible values and social or other non-commercial purposes, as is the case of promoting attitudes in favor of social change and sustainable development [23,26].
Environmental Brand Activism: Scope and Examples
Since the worsening of climate change and environmental degradation after the industrial revolution and the consequent increase in concerns about its long-term effects, several companies have started to demonstrate greater efforts regarding environmental responsibility with several pro-environment initiatives [27]. With environmental awareness growing in society, stakeholders are increasing pressure on companies to disclose information on their environmental performance, demanding transparency in the communication of the environmental impacts of business activities [28], which has led many companies to gradually integrate an image of sustainability into brand equity [29] and, more recently, to start using their brand platforms and other tools to promote environmental issues and inspire eco-friendly behaviors [10].
Environmental brand activism thus deals with topics such as climate change, deforestation, conservation, ecocide, land-use, air and water pollution, emission control, environmental laws and policies, renewable energies, recycling, sustainable products, among others [13,23].
For example, clothing brand Patagonia gives 1% of its sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment through One Percent for the Planet, a non-governmental organization (NGO) created by Patagonia to encourage other companies to follow its example; the brand is known for its environmental activist causes [30]. In 2016, Patagonia created a film to support the defense of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge against its exploitation by oil companies, trying to involve society in this social cause and inspire action around policy to protect the Arctic [31]. The brand also created an online petition that integrated the film and asked the American Senate to pledge to defend the Arctic refuge from oil drilling, obtaining more than 94,000 petition signatures, which led President Barack Obama to designate the bulk of the U.S. Arctic waters indefinitely off limits to oil and gas drilling [32].
For its part, the global beauty brand The Body Shop has a history of more than 35 years of environmental activism, with several activist campaigns in defense of biodiversity, animal rights, and climate awareness. The brand has already teamed up with several NGOs and other companies, such as Greenpeace, the World Land Trust, or TerraCycle, to create actions to promote, for example, the use of renewable energies, recycling, or to regenerate forests and reconnect endangered species [33]. To promote the circular economy, in 2019 The Body Shop also launched the Return, Recycle, Repeat campaign, encouraging its consumers to buy a refillable aluminum bottle and fill it with a choice of eight shower gels, and bring it back to refill once it was empty, in order to reduce the use of plastic and the brand’s impact on the environment [34].
Likewise, in 2015, days before the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, 14 major food companies—Mars, General Mills, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Danone Dairy North America, Hershey, Ben & Jerry’s, Kellogg, PepsiCo, Nestlé United States of America (USA), New Belgium Brewing, Hain Celestial, Stonyfield Farm, and Clif Bar—signed an open letter pledging to boost their companies’ sustainability efforts, to advocate science-based carbon reduction targets, and to share their best practices to encourage other companies to join their effort, calling on government leaders to join them by forging a strong agreement that meaningfully addressed the reality of climate change (Ceres, 2015 [35]). The brands also urged President Donald Trump to remain in the Paris Climate Agreement, and subsequently pledged to abide by that agreement despite the USA’s withdrawal [36].
2.2. The Pro-Environmental Attitudes of Employees
The notion of attitude is a primordial condition in the understanding of human behavior [37]. Over time, this notion has been developed, involving any lasting positive or negative evaluation of an object, person, or event that predisposes the individual to act in a certain way towards that target [38]. Research in the field also indicates that attitudes are a multi-dimensional construct, involving a cognitive, affective, and behavioral component, which are the bases from which the general evaluative summary of a particular psychological object is derived [39].
Expanding from the notion of attitude, some authors have been developing other related concepts, namely concerning the assessment of individuals regarding environmental objects [40,41]. In this way, the notion of pro-environmental attitudes can be described as an expressed psychological tendency to demonstrate a concern for the protection of THE natural environment, ecology, and environmental issues [42]. Corraliza and Berenguer [40] (p. 833) defined pro-environmental attitudes as “people’s predispositions, relatively durable and relatively organized, to pay attention to, be concerned about, and, ultimately, to act in the name of environmental protection”. Individuals with pro-environmental attitudes thus recognize nature as fundamentally valuable and humans as an integral part of human–nature networks [9]. Thus, they demonstrate a positive predisposition to engage in environmental issues, such as the Earth’s load capacity, the balance of ecosystems, nature preservation, preservation of the diversity of natural species, and sustainable development [41], and have positive assessments regarding environmentally friendly practices, such as recycling, saving energy, buying environmentally friendly products, or choosing a more environmentally friendly means of transport [43]. In this way, Güven [44] emphasized that individuals with a positive environmental attitude more easily exhibit positive behaviors towards the environment, especially regarding low-cost pro-environment behaviors (e.g., recycling or buying eco-labeled products vs. not using the car), advocating that the level of individual attitudes towards the environment and environmental issues are of great importance in terms of eliminating and preventing environmental problems. In fact, individuals with negative attitudes towards the environment do not react to environmental problems and even can become a part of the problem [45].
Attitudes become relatively stable during late childhood and early adolescence [46], but can also change any time in life, as long as there are variations in the cognitive (e.g., new knowledge), affective (e.g., positive or negative affective experience in relation to a given object), and/or behavioral (e.g., new circumstances that create conditions for new behaviors) components of an individual’s attitude [47]. Likewise, several studies have shown that individuals tend to imitate the attitudes and behaviors of their peers as they perceive them as a sign of appropriate patterns, causing a social influence and contagion effect that trigger automatic processes of attitudinal changes [48].
Currently, it is known that the mechanisms of social influence that transmit and shape individual attitudes are not restricted to interpersonal relationships. Companies/brands can also act as relationship partners and their actions can influence individuals’ attitudes and behavior both in situations related and unrelated to the brand context [49], namely in the field of pro-environmentalism [15,50]. In this sense, several researchers began to study how companies’ actions can influence and motivate their employees to adopt pro-environmental behaviors [15,51].
According to Wrzesniewski [52], employees have three work orientations as follows: (1) job orientation, where material benefits are important; (2) career orientation, in which advancement and achievement (e.g., pay, prestige, status) are the focus of work; and (3) calling orientation, in which fulfillment is found in making the world a better place. In this way, although employees oriented towards material benefits and career progression are not so interested in the social meaning of what they do, there are a group of employees who have a positive perception of the social role of organizations, being very concerned about social and environmental welfare [53]. In addition to the personal characteristics of each employee, Grant [54] states that work contexts and company actions can also motivate employees to care about society and the environment, namely by encouraging employees to engage in pro-environmental conduct, which can not only improve corporate environmental performance, since employees play an essential role in achieving corporate greening and effectively establish companies’ sustainable initiatives and practices [55], but also promote employees’ pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors outside the organization [15]. Employee pro-environmentalism can thus be encouraged, for example, through recycling practices in the company, rational use of resources, employee participation in initiatives related to the environment, defense of environmental causes, or implementation of sustainable corporate policies [56].
2.3. The Impact of Brand Activism on the Pro-Environmental Attitudes of Brand Employees and the Mediation Role of Identification with the Organization and Moral Elevation
Given the prevalent corporate/economic aspect of research on the impacts of companies’ social strategies, most existing models in this field tend to ignore the relationship between companies’ social activities and stakeholder attitude/behavior change, as well as the possible underlying psychological processes that drive such responses [50]. However, developments in brand activism and the role of companies in promoting social change have led to greater interest in the broader sociopolitical impacts of these strategies, with several studies already testing the impact of companies’ social actions on employees’ pro-environmentalism [15,51,57].
Regarding the impact of brand activism on the pro-environmental attitudes of brand employees, it has been proven that the environmental policies and actions of companies can favor the pro-environmental attitudes of their employees [15,51,57,58]. This happens once the involvement of companies with sociopolitical causes leads to the generation of a greater employee motivation to contribute to a better society and to a greater sense of social justice [53]. This can happen both when corporate social actions address employee-related issues, and when these activities are directed to other stakeholders (e.g., community or the environment), since, by recognizing that their company supports sociopolitical causes, employees’ sense of a meaningful existence within society increases [59]. Ramus and Steger [58], for example, found that employees who were aware of their organization’s environmental policy were more likely to personally promote an environmental initiative within the company. Raineri and Paillé [57] and Ahmed et al. [15] concluded that when employees observe that their company participates in ecological programs, they also exhibit environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviors. Moreover, the study of Afsar and Umrani [51] found that the environmental actions of companies impact the moral reflection of employees about the environment and their pro-environmental advocacy and environmental commitment.
However, in addition to the study of the direct impact of the brand activist actions on the promotion of employees’ pro-environmental attitudes, and as stated by Romani et al. [50], it is also crucial to understand the underlying processes that drive these returns. If initial theoretical frameworks addressing the processes that influence the relationship between the companies’ social actions and the pro-social and pro-environmental attitudes of employees focus mainly on cognitive aspects to predict the broader outcomes of corporate social activities, current research has already included the study of identity (e.g., identification with the organization) and emotional (e.g., moral elevation) factors in CSR and brand activism theory, especially to effectively explain and predict the sociopolitical effects of companies’ initiatives [16,17].
Identification with the organization is defined as a form of social identification that represents the felt degree of overlap between the identity of individuals and that of the organization [16,60]. This overlap arises from a comparison of one’s principles, values, perspectives, beliefs, or personal ways of thinking with the fundamental values declared and practiced by the organization, resulting in a state of self-categorization [53]. For its part, moral elevation is described as a moral emotion, particularly as belonging to the group of other-praising emotions—a group of moral emotions that arise from the virtuous actions of others [61]. Moral elevation is thus theorized as a positive emotional response to witnessing acts of virtue or moral beauty [62], which can lead to short-term personal motivation to contribute to the common good, demonstrate moral growth, or emulate the observed virtuous attitudes/behaviors [17].
A growing body of evidence has demonstrated the mediating role of identification with the organization and moral elevation in the impact of brand activism on promoting employees’ attitudes in favor of society and the environment. Regarding identification with the organization, being socially responsible differentiates companies and improves their image, thus favoring the self-esteem of employees and increasing their propensity to identify with the company [63,64]. This occurs even if employees do not actively participate in the organization’ social practices, as the mere presence of corporate social actions is enough to increase organizational pride and identification among employees through its impact on perceived external prestige [65]. At the same time, greater organizational identification reduces the perceived differences between the interests of organizations and the personal interests of stakeholders, which makes employees more predisposed to support and engage with organizational practices and objectives at all levels (e.g., environmental goals), adopting attitudes that are consistent with the organization’s identity and strategy [66,67]. On the other hand, moral and ethical organizations can be morally uplifting, provoking positive moral responses on the part of its stakeholders, such as moral elevation [17,50]. Vianello et al. [17], for instance, verified that organizations that were considered fair, ethical, and altruistic could promote the moral elevation of their employees, as employees increasingly react emotionally to events in the workplace and to the conduct of their organizations [68]. Likewise, experiencing moral elevation by being exposed to virtuous actions on the part of organizations initiates motivational tendencies to adopt more altruistic postures among employees, promoting for example their attitudes in favor of society and the environment [17,69].
Given the positive empirical impacts of brand activism on the promotion of the pro-environmental attitudes of employees, as well as the verified mediating role of identification with the organization and moral elevation in this relationship, it is postulated that brand activism has either a direct positive influence on employee pro-environmental attitudes, and an indirect positive impact through the mediation of identification with the organization and moral elevation.
Environmental brand activism has a positive impact on employees ’ pro-environmental attitudes.
Identification with the organization positively mediates the impact of environmental brand activism on employees’ pro-environmental attitudes.
Moral elevation positively mediates the impact of environmental brand activism on employees’ pro-environmental attitudes.
3. Materials and Methods
To assess the impact of the environmental activism actions of a major Portuguese retail company on the pro-environmental attitudes of its employees, a quantitative correlational study was conducted [70]. The retail company was chosen not only considering its size, but also the contributions it has made to the defense of sustainability, with several communication campaigns and concrete actions for sustainable development, having already won several social responsibility and activism awards. The sample was collected through a probabilistic sampling process [71], by sending a questionnaire survey by email. The evaluation of environmental brand activism was based on the scales of Sen et al. [16], Glavas and Kelley [72] and Turker [73], measuring dimensions such as perception of activism (e.g., perception of the brand’s environmental responsibility), perception of congruence (e.g., internal and external support of the brand for environmental causes), perception of authenticity (e.g., perception of the brand’s genuine support for environmental causes), and decision-making (e.g., inclusion of environmental issues in the overall brand strategy). Pro-environmental attitudes were measured using items from the scales developed by Dunlap et al. [74], and Milfont and Duckitt [41]. Items related to identification with the organization were assessed using the Hildebrand et al. [75], and Stokburger-Sauer et al. [76] scales, and moral elevation was measured from the Aquino et al. [77] and Schnall et al. [78] scales.
The questionnaire consisted of 11 closed-ended questions. Response options were based on a five-point agreement scale, where 1 corresponded to completely disagree and 5 to completely agree. The surveys were in circulation from 6 April to 14 November 2023. Ethical criteria were considered during the questionnaire administration, including the application of informed consent and the assurance of data confidentiality.
The sample consisted of 324 subjects who were employees of a Portuguese retail brand. The majority were female (60.8%), with the remaining participants being male (38.9%) or other gender (0.3%). Regarding age distribution, 66.6% were between 28 and 47 years old, 18.8% were between 48 and 67 years old, and 14.5% were between 18 and 27 years old. On the other hand, there were no respondents in this study aged 68 or over. In terms of educational background, more than half of the sample had secondary or post-secondary education (45%), 42.9% had higher education, and only 1.9% of the sample had basic education.
The quantitative data collected through the questionnaire survey were analyzed using the SmartPLS software, version 4.0.9.9 for Windows 10, proceeding to analysis of frequencies per item and means per variable, and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis based on partial least squares (PLS) [79].
4. Results
4.1. Environmental Brand Activism
It was observed that, in general, employees had a positive perception regarding the environmental brand activism of the retail company under analysis, with a mean of 3.8 and a standard deviation of 0.8.
Specifically, the belief in the brand’s genuine desire to improve the environment as the brand’s motivation to support environmental causes (m = 4.2) and the fact that environmental issues are an integral part of the brand’ strategy (m = 4.0) were the factors of environmental activism most positively evaluated by employees, without great dispersion of responses (SD = 0.7, each).
On the other hand, the items least positively evaluated by employees in relation to environmental brand activism referred to the brand support for environmental institutions and organization of campaigns/projects to protect and improve the environment (m = 3.6; SD = 0.8), as well as the brand’s encouragement for the public to participate in its actions in favor of the environment (m = 3.5; SD = 0.9), despite being rated above the midpoint of the used scale (Table 1).
4.2. Pro-Environmental Attitudes
Regarding the analysis and evaluation of pro-environmental attitudes, it is possible to conclude that, on average, employees demonstrate a high standard of this type of attitudes (m = 4.0), without a large dispersion of data (SD = 0.8).
By analyzing Table 2, the factor with which most employees agree concerns the importance of protecting the environment (m = 4.5; SD = 0.6), followed by the items relating to the importance to stay informed about environmental problems and issues (m = 4.3; SD = 0.6), and the belief that human beings are not more important in nature than other living beings (m = 4.2; SD = 0.8).
The availability to carry out volunteer activities or financially support an environmental organization (m = 3.4; SD = 0.9) was the factor least positively evaluated by employees, being closer to the center of the scale (neither agree nor disagree) and, therefore, demonstrating a more indifferent position on the part of the sample.
4.3. Identification with the Organization
As for the variable identification with the organization (Table 3), the obtained mean (m = 3.8) demonstrated a good identification of employees with the brand (m = 3.8), once again without great dispersion of data (SD = 0.9).
From the analysis of the items, it appears that the factors that most contributed to the identification of employees with the organization were the fact that respondents were interested in what others think about the brand (m = 4.2; SD = 0.8), that the brand’s successes were also considered the successes of the employees (m = 4.0; SD = 0.9), the belief that the brand defends the same ethical values and principles of the respondents (m = 4.0; SD = 0.8), and the great personal meaning the brand has for the sample (m = 4.0; SD = 0.9).
On the other hand, employees had a relatively neutral assessment of taking a compliment (m = 3.3; SD = 1.2) or insult to the brand as something personal (m = 3.1; SD = 1.1), with a mean that was very close to the central point of the used scale.
4.4. Moral Elevation
As can be seen in Table 4, moral elevationwa also, on average, positively evaluated by the sample of employees (m = 3.7), again without a relevant dispersion of data (SD = 0.9).
Notably, respondents highlighted their admiration for the brand’s environmental activism actions (m = 4.1; SD = 0.7) and their will to follow the brand’s example of conduct at an environmental level (m = 4.0; SD = 0.8).
The least pronounced value (m = 2.5; SD = 1.2), revealing respondent indifference, pertained to the item “When I witness, see, or hear about the social and environmental activism actions of Continente, I often experience physical sensations such as warmth in my chest, chills, tingling, tears in my eyes, muscle relaxation or a “lump” in my throat”, which was the only one that received an evaluation below the midpoint of the scale.
4.5. Direct and Mediated Impacts
To execute the PLS-SEM algorithm, the consistent PLS-SEM was selected, since all factors were reflective [80], with the weighting scheme—path settings. The analysis of the significance of the paths between the constructs was carried out using consistent PLS-SEM bootstrapping, with minimum subsamples of 5000, bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap, and a significance level of 5% (two-tailed test).
By executing the PLS-SEM consistent algorithm, it was verified that any indicator (an indicator is a variable that can be effectively measured [81]) should be removed from the model based on the analysis of the respective weight of outer loadings [81]. In this sense, the final model was composed of one exogenous reflective construct (environmental brand activism) and three endogenous reflective constructs (identification with the organization, moral elevation, and pro-environmental attitudes). Here, a construct is a variable that cannot be observed and is estimated through indicators (Hair et al., 2017 [81]).
Regarding the analysis of the measurement model, the validity of reflective measurement models takes place through internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability values), convergent validity, and discriminant validity [81]. All variables presented values of Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability above 0.90, which demonstrates that all latent variables had high internal consistency making it possible to conclude that all the items adequately measured the variables under analysis. The results relating to the convergent validity of the measurement model also demonstrated that all variables presented a satisfactory level of convergent validity, presenting values greater than 0.50. This means that, on average, all constructs explained more than half of the variance of its indicators, satisfying the criteria for convergent validity. Finally, the values of cross loadings obtained in relation to discriminant validity reported that the values for each indicator were higher for the construct to which they belonged in relation to the other constructs, thus demonstrating that each construct represents a diverse and unique subject and validating the cross-loading criterion.
For its part, the analysis of the structural model was carried out through the assessment of Pearson’s coefficient of determination (R2), effect size (f2), predictive relevance (Q2), and the size and statistical significance of the structural path coefficients (direct and indirect impacts). From the results regarding R2, it is concluded that identification with the organization and pro-environmental attitudes were explained in 49% by their predictive constructs and moral elevation was explained in 48% by the effects of its predictors, therefore presenting moderate prediction coefficients [81]. Regarding f2 values, the relationships between environmental brand activism and pro-environmental attitudes (f2 = 0.48) had a strong effect, followed by the relationship between environmental brand activism and identification with the organization (f2 = 0.15), with a moderate effect. The remaining effects were considered weak or statistically insignificant, with f2 values varying between 0.05 and 0.00. In addition, through analysis of the results regarding Q2, it can be concluded that all endogenous constructs had predictive relevance, since the Q2 values were greater than 0. Moral elevation was the endogenous construct with the greatest predictive relevance (Q2 = 0.42), followed by identification with the organization and pro-environmental attitudes (Q2 = 0.35).
After analyzing the predictive power of the structural modal, estimates of the relationships between constructs were obtained using PLS-SEM bootstrapping. Beta coefficients (β) or path coefficients, as well as the level of significance (p-value) of each impact were analyzed, estimating the strength and statistical significance of the relationships between the independent, mediating, and dependent variables (Table 5).
The results indicated a strong positive impact of environmental brand activism on the pro-environmental attitudes of employees (β = 0.74), being a significant relationship (p = 0.00). Environmental brand activism also directly impacted the employee identification with the organization (β = 0.38; p = 0.00) and the moral elevation felt by them (β = 0.15; p = 0.03). For its part, only identification with the organization had a positive direct impact on the promotion of employee’s pro-environmental attitudes, with a considerable weight (β = 0.27) and level of significance (p = 0.00), since moral elevation did not statistically impact the pro-environmental attitudes (p = 0.63), presenting a path coefficient value very close to zero (β = 0.04). The model also identified an indirect effect of environmental brand activism on the pro-environmental attitudes, mediated by identification with the organization (β = 0.10; p = 0.01). In this case, moral elevation did not have a mediating effect between the independent and dependent variables, with the path not being considered statistically significant (β = 0.01; p = 0.65).
5. Discussion
In general, the results obtained suggest that surveyed employees have a positive perception of the environmental brand activism of the Portuguese retail company under study, particularly highlighting the company’s genuine desire to improve the environment and the fact that environmental issues are an integral part of the brand’s overall strategy. However, employees believe that, despite the company’s effort to address environmental matters, it could play a more active role in encouraging its public to participate in its actions in favor of the environment, highlighting an area with potential for improvement in brand activism management. These findings align with the discussions in the literature, as argued by Davis and White [14] and Vredenburg et al. [12], emphasizing the growing demand of employees and other stakeholders for companies to play a more interventionist role in sociopolitical issues, involving its stakeholders in a shared responsibility for improving these causes.
In the same way, the results of this study also indicate that surveyed employees demonstrate a high degree of attitudes towards the environment, namely agreeing on the importance of protecting the environment and staying informed about current environmental problems and issues but revealing less predisposition to carry out volunteer activities or financially support an environmental organization. Surveyed employees also identify with their employer, being particularly interested in the opinion of others about the company, which shows that respondents want the company to be perceived as being aligned with its principles and values—a crucial aspect for employees to identify with an organization [53]. The sample of employees also revealed a positive moral elevation through the activism actions of the brand under study, indicating that employees admire the brand’s environmental activism actions and show a will to follow the brand’s example of conduct at an environmental level. This signals that environmental brand activism can establish a positive emotional connection with employees, motivating them to also show better attitudes regarding the environment [17].
The positive assessment of employees regarding the brand activist actions and their high level of attitudes in favor of the environment are underscored by the strong correlation established between environmental brand activism and employee pro-environmental attitudes, thus confirming H1 (β = 0.74; p = 0.00) and suggesting that brand activism significantly promotes the adoption of attitudes in favor of the environment, making an organization’s employees more likely to engage in environmental issues and environmentally friendly practices, preserve nature and biodiversity, and prevent environmental problems, contributing to sustainable development. The findings are in line with those obtained by Ahmed et al. [15], Afsar and Umrani [51], or Raineri and Paillé [57], who concluded that brand activism could be recognized as significant predictor of employee’s environmental commitment, adopting environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviors.
Likewise, the results of this study also statistically confirm H2 (β = 0.10; p = 0.01), reporting a mediating effect of identification with the organization in the impact of environmental brand activism on employee pro-environmental attitudes, as suggested by De Roeck et al. [65] or Brammer et al. [66]. This is supported by the significant positive impact of environmental brand activism on the employee identification with the organization (β = 0.38; p = 0.00), and by the considerable direct impact of identification with the organization on the promotion of employee’s pro-environmental attitudes (β = 0.27; p = 0.00). In this way, it is concluded that being environmentally responsible differentiates companies in the eyes of their employees, increasing organizational identification and reducing the perceived differences between the interests of companies and the personal interests of its stakeholders. This, in turn, can make employees more in line with the companies’ environmental policies and actions, adopting attitudes that are consistent with it. On the other hand, no statistically valid mediation of moral elevation was detected in the relationship between environmental brand activism on employee pro-environmental attitudes, with H3 being rejected (β = 0.01; p = 0.65). Although environmental brand activism positively impacts the moral elevation felt by employees (β = 0.15; p = 0.03), moral elevation does not statistically impact employees’ pro-environmental attitudes (β = 0.04; p = 0.63), which prevents the occurrence of mediation. Thus, it can be concluded that the environmental activism actions of the brand under analysis awaken positive emotions in its employees that motivate moral growth, but this emotion does not lead them to adopt more favorable attitudes towards the environment. In fact, the study of moral elevation in a work context [17,69] has largely focused on the emulation of virtuous practices at work or in relation to other stakeholders and not the environment, so its study in a pro-environmental context could be further explored.
6. Conclusions
As a strategy increasingly adopted by companies to address relevant sociopolitical causes, it is important to understand the concrete impacts that brand activism can have on improving issues related to sustainable development. Since brands have privileged contact with their employees, this group of stakeholders can be a starting point for companies to understand what impact their activism actions have, particularly on their audiences’ perception regarding relevant sociopolitical causes and on the promotion of attitudes and/or behaviors in favor of the defended issues. This will not only allow companies to provide greater justification for adopting these social policies but can also serve as an incentive for more and more companies to invest in brand activism and contribute to positive social change.
This study thus contributes to research on the sociopolitical impacts of brand activism, by studying the impact of environmental brand activism on employee pro-environmental attitudes, as well as the mediating effects of identification with the organization and moral elevation on this relationship. Answering the research questions, the results obtained through PLS-SEM analysis concluded that environmental brand activism has a positive direct effect on employees’ pro-environmental attitudes, accepting H1. Regarding the mediating power of the variable identification with the organization, it is verified this variable exerts a positive mediating influence on the impact of environmental brand activism on employees’ pro-environmental attitudes, confirming H2. However, the results do not confirm the existence of a mediation of moral elevation in the impact of environmental brand activism on the pro-environmental attitudes of employees, with this mediation not being statistically significant and H3 being rejected.
Based on the results obtained, several practical implications and avenues for further research emerge. At a corporate level, the generated knowledge indicates that companies should strategically plan and act on environmental issues, once such stances can positively influence the pro-environmental attitudes of their employees, thus favoring positive changes both internally (e.g., energy or water savings) and externally (e.g., greater concerns about contributing to the resolution of environmental problems). This conclusion points out that brand activism allows a more sustainable business model for the company under analysis and others, which can make a greater contribution to positive environmental changes and sustainable development by improving the attitudes of its employees concerning the environment through these campaigns. Likewise, companies should leverage identity factors in their environmental brand activism campaigns to enhance pro-environmental attitudes on the part of their employees, emphasizing authenticity and alignment between the organization’s environmental beliefs and statements with that of their employees. This is proven by the fact that only identification with the organization mediates the impact of brand activism on employees’ pro-environmental attitudes, encouraging a greater focus by companies on promoting high identification of their employees with the company’s mission and values, as well as with the environmental causes defended, if the aim is to promote employees’ attitudes in favor of the environment. Despite the non-existence of mediation, environmental brand activism can also continue to be used by brands to promote employees’ moral elevation, as a positive impact has been verified between these variables. This may not contribute to the adoption of pro-environmental attitudes, but it may contribute to sustainability, as this emotion is strongly correlated with the motivation to be morally better.
For its part, the results of this study are promising for academia, encouraging further studies on the other broader impacts of brand activism, particularly at a social or political level, to deepen the research in the field of brand activism, and inspire companies to invest in social strategies. In the same way, the study of the impact of brand activism on promoting pro-environmental attitudes can be further explored, for example by testing its influence on the attitudes of other skateboarder groups, such as consumers, or exploring the mediating effect of other variables, such as brand reputation or brand trust.
7. Study Limitations
From the outset, there were some difficulties in the exact description of some theoretical constructs related to brand activism, given that the novelty of this research topic means that its theoretical ground is still poorly cemented and that there is a multiplicity of definitions existing in the literature, some of which end up mixing concepts. In addition, identity, emotional, and attitudinal factors are very subjective fields of research, leading to various definitions of the same concepts and conceptual interconnections between them. This limitation affected the operationalization of the constructs in the scales used in the questionnaire surveys. In the case of environmental brand activism, no tested scale of this variable was known when the questionnaire surveys were applied, which led to some difficulties in creating the scale and choosing the items that best suited the theoretical definitions of the construct. Regarding the remaining constructs, in addition to there being a wide range of scales for each construct analyzed, several of these scales were not specifically constructed to evaluate the variables in the business sector and, in many, the distinction between related concepts was unclear (e.g., distinction between pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors). This led to the introduction of similar statements in some scales and extended the size of the questionnaires, which may have affected the respondents’ responses and led to a smaller sample size than expected.
In addition, there was some bias in the sample, which mostly portrays the opinions of educated female adults, which may have had some repercussions on the empirical work and the results obtained.
Finally, although the relationship between antecedent, consequent, and mediation in relation to the variables studied is theoretically supported by the literature, it is important to mention that there may be other factors that cause mediating effects. These could include the greater or lesser interest and sensitivity of respondents in relation to environmental issues and their familiarity with the brand’s activism actions, whose possible relationship with the remaining variables was not statistically evaluated but may limit the overall understanding of the conceptual model.
Conceptualization, A.M.; Methodology, S.M.; Formal analysis, A.M.; Investigation, A.M. and S.M.; Supervision, S.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Committee of Iscte-University Institute of Lisbon (protocol code 7095, 2011).
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Footnotes
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Descriptive analysis: environmental brand activism.
| Mean | SD | |
|---|---|---|
| I consider this brand an environmentally responsible brand. | 3.8 | 0.7 |
| The brand is committed to solving current environmental problems. | 3.7 | 0.8 |
| The brand supports institutions with initiatives in favor of the environment and organizes campaigns and projects aimed at protecting and improving the quality of the environment. | 3.6 | 0.8 |
| The brand implements internal measures to minimize the environmental impact of its operations. | 3.9 | 0.7 |
| The brand is an environmentally friendly brand that has acted for sustainability. | 3.7 | 0.8 |
| Environmental issues are an integral part of the brand’s strategy. | 4.0 | 0.7 |
| I believe that the brand’s genuine desire to improve the environment was what motivated the brand’s decision to support environmental causes. | 4.2 | 0.7 |
| The brand encourages its public to participate in its actions in favor of the environment. | 3.5 | 0.9 |
| Environmental Brand Activism | 3.8 | 0.8 |
Descriptive analysis: pro-environmental attitudes.
| Mean | SD | |
|---|---|---|
| I consider it is important to protect the environment. | 4.5 | 0.6 |
| I feel responsible for contributing to the minimization or resolution of environmental problems, considering it is important to recycle, save water and energy, or reduce pollution. | 4.1 | 0.8 |
| I feel available to carry out volunteer activities or financially support an environmental organization. | 3.4 | 0.9 |
| I think it is important to find more environmentally friendly modes of transport. | 3.9 | 0.8 |
| I think it is important to adopt more sustainable consumption practices. | 4.1 | 0.8 |
| I believe that human beings are not more important in nature than other living beings, such as animals and plants. | 4.2 | 0.8 |
| I find it important to stay informed about current environmental problems and issues. | 4.3 | 0.6 |
| I am willing to change my way of life to protect the environment. | 3.7 | 0.8 |
| Pro-environmental Attitudes | 4.0 | 0.8 |
Descriptive analysis: identification with the organization.
| Mean | SD | |
|---|---|---|
| The organization’s successes are my successes. | 4.0 | 0.9 |
| I am interested in what others think about this organization. | 4.2 | 0.8 |
| When someone praises this organization, I feel it as a personal compliment. | 3.3 | 1.2 |
| When someone criticizes this organization, I feel it as a personal insult. | 3.1 | 1.1 |
| If a media report criticized this organization, I would feel ashamed. | 3.7 | 1.1 |
| I believe that this organization embodies many of my personal characteristics. | 3.9 | 0.8 |
| I believe that this organization defends the same ethical values and principles I do. | 4.0 | 0.8 |
| This organization has great personal meaning for me. | 4.0 | 0.9 |
| I have a strong sense of belonging to this organization. | 3.9 | 0.9 |
| Identification with the Organization | 3.8 | 0.9 |
Descriptive analysis: moral elevation.
| Mean | SD | |
|---|---|---|
| I am moved by the environmental activism actions of this brand. | 3.6 | 0.9 |
| I feel inspired by the environmental activism actions of this brand. | 3.9 | 0.8 |
| I am in awe of the environmental activism actions of this brand. | 4.1 | 0.7 |
| When I think of this brand and its environmental activism actions, I feel that there is still kindness and generosity in the world. | 3.8 | 0.8 |
| When I think about this brand and its environmental activism actions, I feel that humanity has admirable actions. | 3.7 | 0.9 |
| I feel like following this brand’s example of conduct at a environmental level. | 4.0 | 0.8 |
| This brand’s environmental activism makes me want to be a better person. | 3.9 | 0.9 |
| This brand’s environmental activism makes me want to practice more virtuous acts towards others and the environment. | 3.9 | 0.9 |
| When I witness, see, or hear about the environmental activism actions of this brand, I often experience physical sensations such as warmth in my chest, chills, tingling, tears in my eyes, muscle relaxation or a “lump” in my throat. | 2.5 | 1.2 |
| Moral Elevation | 3.7 | 0.9 |
PLS-SEM bootstrapping: direct and indirect impacts.
| Path | Direct Impacts | Indirect Impacts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coefficient (β) | p-Value | Coefficient (β) | p-Value | |
| EBA → PEA | 0.74 | 0.00 | - | - |
| EBA → IO | 0.38 | 0.00 | - | - |
| EBA → ME | 0.15 | 0.03 | - | - |
| IO → PEA | 0.27 | 0.00 | - | - |
| ME → PEA | 0.04 | 0.63 | - | - |
| EBA → IO → PEA | - | - | 0.10 | 0.01 |
| EBA → ME → PEA | - | - | 0.01 | 0.65 |
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Abstract
The impact of companies’ social strategies, such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and brand activism, on corporate advantages like economic and reputational gains has been well documented in the literature. However, research becomes scarcer regarding the broader impacts of these social strategies, namely the promotion of attitudes in favor of society and the environment on the part of company stakeholders. Furthermore, there is still little research on the variables that can mediate this impact, particularly at an identity and emotional level. To cover this gap, this article aims to study the impact of environmental brand activism on employee pro-environmental attitudes, and the possible mediating effects of identification with the organization and moral elevation by analyzing the brand activism of a Portuguese retail company. The results showed that environmental brand activism can directly affect the pro-environmental attitudes of employees and have also indirect impacts on the pro-environmental attitudes of this group of stakeholders, but only through the mediating role of identification with the organization, thus contributing to a better perception of the potential of brand activism to promote social change and sustainable development.
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Details
; Miranda, Sandra 2
1 Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-ISCTE), Iscte-University Institute of Lisbon, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal
2 LIACOM, Laboratório de Investigação Aplicada em Comunicação e Média (ESCS-IPL), School of Communication and Media Studies (ESCS-IPL), 1549-014 Lisbon, Portugal;