Mental health is everybody’s business

: the role of brands in overcoming the stigma while nurturing consumers’ brand perceptions

Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as a holistic balance between physical, mental and social well-being. The COVID-19 virus has not only weakened the physical component of the population. Although seemingly invisible, this virus has brought abysmal psychological consequences to society and accelerated the urgent mental health approach that screams to the world its need for expression, normalisation, and acceptance. Consumers have come to value their own well-being, and that of society as a whole, exponentially. The study reveals that consumers now similarly value mental health and physical health initiatives implemented by familiar brands. These corporate social responsibility practices prove to be extremely incremental in terms of consumers' brands perceptions. However, consumers feel more socially responsible when they are an integral part of a social cause. Therefore, consumer-centric approaches are more beneficial to the brand than employee centric stimuli. Additionally, this study has proven that exposure to mentally focused scenarios triggers a considerable decrease in mental health-related stigma in society. In this way, brands areable to, almost in a pioneering way, unmask stigma, adopting an educational role in the community, while simultaneously building and strengthening brand equity.

Date of Award	27 Jan 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	João Niza Braga (Supervisor)