Online brand advocacy for sustainable brands: a study in an emerging market

Abstract

PurposeThe main aim of this study is to integrate the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to examine consumers' intention to advocate for sustainable brands, whilst incorporating the moderating role of pro-environmental self-identity. Consumer sustainability orientation is also added as an antecedent for attitudes to determine the degree to which consumers' personal convictions and attitudes toward sustainability impact their attitude toward sustainable brands. The importance of using the TPB to study online brand advocacy lies in the accumulated evidence that shows that this theory is useful in explaining most kinds of social behaviors.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative research with the use of web-surveys is employed to test the research hypotheses with a total sample size of 536 respondents. Millennials have been chosen for the current paper to be studied.FindingsResults of the study showed that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) were positively related to consumers' advocacy intentions. The findings of this study demonstrated that the TPB is applicable to measuring consumers' advocacy intentions. In addition, the results indicated that two dimensions of sustainability orientation, economic and social orientation, are significant predictors of attitudes. The study also found that pro-environmental self-identity does not moderate the relationship between the TPB core components and online brand advocacy.Originality/valueThis study is considered the first to employ the TPB as a theoretical foundation to test the antecedents of online brand advocacy (OBA) in relation to sustainable brands with the inclusion of consumer sustainability orientation as a predictor of attitudes with respect to the three dimensions of sustainability and the moderating effect of pro-environmental self-identity.

Exploring ageing consumers’ usage of content marketing, content typology and online brand advocacy

“…As a result, they began creating online content, such as giving feedback and writing user reviews for others when they had positive or negative experiences with products or services. In this sense, their behaviours align with younger people; when perceiving themselves as informed and educated about a brand, they are compelled to communicate their in-depth cognition and intimate knowledge of that brand with others (Abdelrazek and El-Bassiouny, 2022). Nonetheless, when recommending their favourite brands to others, which older consumers do constantly and willingly, they prefer to do so in-person with their inner circle of friends and families.…”

“…The study is congruent with Chiosa and Anastasiei's (2018) research, which found that a positive attitude is the most crucial factor determining consumer intention to become brand advocates. Abdelrazek and El-Bassiouny (2022), who studied millennial consumers, also indicated that consumers could not advocate for a brand online without a positive attitude and strong brand confidence. The current study examines positive attitudes and discusses insights into older consumers' behaviours, which reflect the four OBA dimensions proposed by Wilk et al (2020).…”

“…Recently, the notion of OBA has been explored in many contexts, including sustainable branding (Abdelrazek and El-Bassiouny, 2022), luxury branding (Wong, 2023), and online destination brand advocacy (ODBA) (Wilk et al, 2021a). The researchers contended that all three variables of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control positively related to consumers' advocacy intentions (Abdelrazek and El-Bassiouny, 2022). The evidence also suggests that OBA and content marketing are two related constructs.…”

Make it real, make it useful! The impact of AR social experience on brand positivity and information sharing

“…Previous studies (e.g. Ali, 2022;Van Tonder et al, 2020) have acknowledged that when customers achieve desired outcomes through their interactions with a brand, they are likely to share positive emotions, behaviors, and thoughts with others, which can manifest as actions such as sharing brand information and having a positive attitude toward the brand (Abdelrazek and El-Bassiouny, 2023;Kim et al, 2023). Therefore, in this study, brand positivity and brand information sharing were chosen as two forms of customer pro-social behavior.…”

Examining the mediating role of brand trust and brand commitment in fostering consumer perceptions toward recycled products

“…The rising concern over socio-ecological problems indicates the growth of environmentally and socially conscious consumers (Abdelrazek & El-Bassiouny, 2022). On similar lines, NielsenIQ (2018) (a multinational market research company) conducted a survey in which 81% of participants strongly voted that businesses should work for the betterment of the environment.…”