The impact of social brand activism in advertising on the perceived brand attitude of millennials & generation z consumers concerning cosmetics brands in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Purpose: In recent years, there has been a growing trend of brand activism, where companies use their platforms and resources to advocate for social and environmental causes in addition to their traditional business objectives. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of social brand activism in advertising on the perceived brand attitude of millennials and generation Z consumers concerning cosmetics brands in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach: For the proposed model of this study, social brand activism in advertising is employed as an independent variable, including dimensions: information credibility, celebrity trustworthiness, perceived argument quality, issue involvement, perceived authenticity, and brand cause fit, while perceived brand attitude is the dependent variable. Mainly, 150 young consumers of respective brands, are randomly selected, representing the whole population of generation Z and millennials consumers in Sri Lanka. A selfadministrated questionnaire is distributed, and responses are tested using SPSS version 25. The study used a quantitative research approach, with descriptive statistics, Karl Pearson's correlation analysis, and regression analysis utilized to examine the data. Findings: The study's findings emphasized that Social Brand Activism in Advertising significantly impacts the perceived brand attitude. Moreover, it has been concluded that all six dimensions of social brand activism significantly and positively impacted the perceived brand attitude. Practical implications: The study concluded that if corporations utilize social brand activism efforts to influence young customers' positive brand attitudes about cosmetics products in Sri Lanka, the efforts will be a success. Research limitations: The results should be interpreted with caution due to several limitations such as the small sample size, the narrow focus on cosmetics, the use of self-administered questionnaires, and longer data collection due to Covid-19.Originality value: The findings of this research study will support brand managers, policymakers, and advertisers to be more concerned when they address social issues through their marketing campaigns and other kinds of social moves.