Abstract
Since the rapid emergence of digital technology, social media in particular has empowered
people to be more outspoken. As such, Twitter is the easiest and quickest way for people to
connect worldwide through micro-messages, since there are no boundaries between users. Thus,
conversations between consumers and brands or organisations have never been easier. Over the
years, Twitter has been the platform that users turn to for activism and to bring awareness to
social issues. This is due to the viral effect it of Twitter’s trending pages and hashtags, examples
of this include #bringbackourgirls #bellpottinger. This activism also translates into consumer
activism against brands or organisations where consumers feel that brands have failed in their
product, services, or campaigns, and turn to Twitter to call out inaccuracies and demand justice,
such as #deleteUber and #AskSeaWorld. The emerging theme from the literature is that
consumer activism influences brand perceptions by producing user-generated content about
brands, which poses a reputational risk to brands. This study explores how consumer activism on
Twitter influences users’ brand perceptions by answering the following three questions: How do
negative user-generated tweets about brands influence interpassive Twitter users’ brand
perceptions? How do Twitter users perceive user-generated, brand-related content shared by
branded hashtags? Why do interactive Twitter users produce user-generated, brand-related
content? To this end, 10 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with two samples:
interactive Twitter users who produce content about brands; and interpassive Twitter users who
read produced content but do not generate any brand-related content themselves. The findings
from the research illustrate how Twitter users’ perceptions are, in fact, not influenced by
consumer activism, but rather how brands confront consumer activism. As an implication,
authenticity and brand purpose are vital to how brands are managed online.
M.A. (Strategic Communication)