To Be Woke or Not to Be Woke? An Exploration of the Moral Foundations of Conservative Rejection of Brand Activism.

Brand activism has become a powerful way to communicate a brand's values and attract consumers who expect stances on divisive issues, but it can also lead to backlash. Thus, in the current study, we examine the #GoWokeGoBroke movement, an online-based media campaign that is gaining traction, to serve as a starting point for brands and advertisers to decide whether to engage in or avoid brand activism. Our findings, based on moral foundations theory, suggest that each moral foundation is associated with various metrics of online engagement, but not others. Brand activism choices that trigger responses that reference unfairness or undue authority are linked to higher retweet rates and a wider spread, which suggests that evoking those foundations may be particularly dangerous. This study offers implications for understanding the #GoWokeGoBroke movement, as well as for the study of the moral foundations of online movements for brands. The results can help brands mitigate pushback against activism choices as well as consider strategies for using moral foundations to join online brand activism conversations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]