Week 4
Eilert, M., & Nappier Cherup, A. (2020). The Activist Company: Examining a
Company’s Pursuit of Societal Change Through Corporate Activism Using an
Institutional Theoretical Lens. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 39(4), 461-476.
CSR (from institutional perspective) = company response to its societal obligations,
which are in uenced by di erent actors in their institutional environment
- the actors in uence internal stakeholders, such as consumers, employees,
shareholders, but also external stakeholders, such as competitors, community,
non-pro t organizations, and even governments
- the support of a social, political or environmental issue as part of CSR is
motivated by isomorphic in uences stemming from the company’s various
stakeholder groups and is normally perceived as positive (or at least not negative)
behavior, unless the company is hypocritical and insincere in its support
corporate activism (CA) = company’s willingness to take a stand on social,
political, economic, and environmental issues to create societal change by
in uencing the attitudes and behaviors of actors in its institutional environment
- many stakeholders are becoming more involved in a company’s activities as
corporate citizens
- this paper examines CA from the perspective that the company can use in uence
and change strategies to impact the attitudes and behaviors of actors in its
institutional environment
- CA can be risky, which is a consequence of the type of the issue that the
company supports, e.g. Starbuck’s #RaceTogether (required employees to talk
about race relations with patrons while they waited for their order)
35
fl fi flfl fffl fl
, CA Barriers and Practices:
1. Barriers Preventing Issue Progress
- lack of awareness: issue might be relatively new, issue has not been discusses
because it may be unimportant/irrelevant to a large part of the population, or the
issue may involve a taboo topic (e.g. abortion)
- attitude valence and strength: negative attitudes prevent individuals from
adopting a certain type of behavior (especially, if they are strong), including
donating, volunteering, or even activism
- polarisation: through which an issue can become controversial, e.g. gun violence
- CA is geared toward changing the attitudes and subsequent behaviors of actors
in the institutional environmental to make meaningful progress towards a
resolution of the issue
2. Corporate Activist Strategies to Remove Barriers
a. type of in uence
- normative in uences re ect whether certain behavior, such as support of an
issue, is acceptable
- mimetic in uences exist when institutional actors feel pressure to adopt a certain
behavior to stay competitive, e.g. LGBTQ+ or BLM support
- coercive in uences facilitate attitudes and behavior change in institutional actors,
often involves protests and boycotts and is geared toward withholding key
resources that the institutional actor needs for its survival
b. in uence strategies
- persuasive tactics are intended to convince targets of CA about the merits of the
claims made by the agent, e.g. rationality, recommendations and information
exchange
- persuasive tactics can include providing persuasive data or information about a
cause to sway attitudes in favor of the issue, changing marketplace attitudes and
moving them onto the mainstream (e.g. same-sex marriage)
36
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flflfl fl fl
Eilert, M., & Nappier Cherup, A. (2020). The Activist Company: Examining a
Company’s Pursuit of Societal Change Through Corporate Activism Using an
Institutional Theoretical Lens. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 39(4), 461-476.
CSR (from institutional perspective) = company response to its societal obligations,
which are in uenced by di erent actors in their institutional environment
- the actors in uence internal stakeholders, such as consumers, employees,
shareholders, but also external stakeholders, such as competitors, community,
non-pro t organizations, and even governments
- the support of a social, political or environmental issue as part of CSR is
motivated by isomorphic in uences stemming from the company’s various
stakeholder groups and is normally perceived as positive (or at least not negative)
behavior, unless the company is hypocritical and insincere in its support
corporate activism (CA) = company’s willingness to take a stand on social,
political, economic, and environmental issues to create societal change by
in uencing the attitudes and behaviors of actors in its institutional environment
- many stakeholders are becoming more involved in a company’s activities as
corporate citizens
- this paper examines CA from the perspective that the company can use in uence
and change strategies to impact the attitudes and behaviors of actors in its
institutional environment
- CA can be risky, which is a consequence of the type of the issue that the
company supports, e.g. Starbuck’s #RaceTogether (required employees to talk
about race relations with patrons while they waited for their order)
35
fl fi flfl fffl fl
, CA Barriers and Practices:
1. Barriers Preventing Issue Progress
- lack of awareness: issue might be relatively new, issue has not been discusses
because it may be unimportant/irrelevant to a large part of the population, or the
issue may involve a taboo topic (e.g. abortion)
- attitude valence and strength: negative attitudes prevent individuals from
adopting a certain type of behavior (especially, if they are strong), including
donating, volunteering, or even activism
- polarisation: through which an issue can become controversial, e.g. gun violence
- CA is geared toward changing the attitudes and subsequent behaviors of actors
in the institutional environmental to make meaningful progress towards a
resolution of the issue
2. Corporate Activist Strategies to Remove Barriers
a. type of in uence
- normative in uences re ect whether certain behavior, such as support of an
issue, is acceptable
- mimetic in uences exist when institutional actors feel pressure to adopt a certain
behavior to stay competitive, e.g. LGBTQ+ or BLM support
- coercive in uences facilitate attitudes and behavior change in institutional actors,
often involves protests and boycotts and is geared toward withholding key
resources that the institutional actor needs for its survival
b. in uence strategies
- persuasive tactics are intended to convince targets of CA about the merits of the
claims made by the agent, e.g. rationality, recommendations and information
exchange
- persuasive tactics can include providing persuasive data or information about a
cause to sway attitudes in favor of the issue, changing marketplace attitudes and
moving them onto the mainstream (e.g. same-sex marriage)
36
fl
flflfl fl fl
