The impact of a media backlash and the moderating role of sustainable development goal #17 on the relationship between well-established brands and consumers’ valuations

Abstract

Across many irreversible damages, sourcing and production of food are highlighted as the major contributors to the ecological footprint outrage. These have been topics of action by modern environmental movements across the globe. Subsequently, organisations have been highly encouraged to take action and engage in a strategic framework that protects both society and business’s needs through Purpose-driven initiatives. Despite some brands being built upon sustainability like Starbucks, others like Nestlé embrace purpose-driven orientation at a later maturity stage. In fact, the latter has been under scrutiny of several media backlashes due to alleged cases of misconduct, disappointing consumers, and affecting their trust, loyalty, perceived quality, ethicality, and paying behaviour towards the brand. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an opportunity for brands to act together for a better future. Particularly, SDG #17 aims at encouraging cooperation between brands. A study was conducted to analyse the impact of media backlash over well-established (mainstream vs. sustainability-rooted) brands on consumers’ valuations, and the performance of information about SDG #17 - Partnership for the Goals between brands as a moderator on this relationship. Results show that media backlash has significant negative impact on consumers’ brand valuations. However, SDG #17 as an informative tool assurance of social and environmentally-friendly practices is still not enough to fully mitigate such negative impacts. Overall, the communication effect of SDGs can be a powerful tool to inform and guide brands through purpose-driven actions. Yet, organizations and brands still need to better communicate their embracement of social and environmental causes.

Date of Award	30 Jun 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Vera Herédia Colaço (Supervisor)