Research Articles (Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS))

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/51279

The University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) is a leading business school in the heart of Illovo, Johannesburg, close to the Sandton business hub. Academic programmes as well as a wide range of executive courses are availble and can be custom-designed to suit specific company needs.

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Opportunities or threats : impact of digital engagement on marginalized women entrepreneurs
James, Imaobong; Ibukun, Tolulope; Ng, Poh Yen (Wiley, 2026-01)
The paper explores the experiences of social marginalization and discrimination faced by women entrepreneurs, as well as their adoption of digital resources to address these disadvantages. This study employs an interpretive approach; semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 women entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Findings reveal the discrimination and social marginalization faced by women entrepreneurs, which include market restrictions, difficulty to thrive, gendered expectations, sexual advancement, and the “other groups” segregation. The study further highlights how digital engagement helped women entrepreneurs overcome marginalization by expanding their market reach, transforming their businesses and creating supportive networks. However, digitalization and online presence expose them to the risk of fraud and perpetuate gender discrimination in the digital space.
Continental shift : operations and supply chain management research from an African perspective
Essuman, Dominic; Essien, Aniekan; Roehrich, Jens K.; Lam, Hugo K.S.; Schleper, Martin C.; Blome, Constantin (Emerald, 2026-12)
PURPOSE : Africa is attracting growing research interest in operations and supply chain management (OSCM). However, the implications of Africa's contexts are understudied and need to be explored to refine and elaborate existing OSCM theories and concepts or develop new ones. This paper addresses these limitations while introducing IJOPM's Africa Initiative (AfIn), which seeks to provide a platform and support for Africa-based researchers and the broader OSCM community to advance OSCM research on and from Africa. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : This paper draws on multiple streams of literature to disentangle and better understand African contexts and discuss how the continent's idiosyncrasies can enrich OSCM research. It then details the AfIn, including its motivation and objectives, the review process, and support mechanisms for researchers. FINDINGS : The paper sheds light on seven contextual factors that may influence OSCM research in Africa: (1) informal economy and organizations, (2) socio-cultural diversity and complexity, (3) traditional and survival-oriented cultures, (4) weak formal institutions with strong informal institutions, (5) population growth potential, (6) abundant resources with low outcomes and (7) high environmental constraints. Additionally, the paper provides insights into how these contextual factors underpin five OSCM themes through which future research can advance and shape OSCM theory and practice. These themes include: (1) serving consumer markets, (2) managing resources, (3) managing factor market rivalry, (4) managing environmental hostility and (5) managing institutions. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : The paper provides a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Africa's contextual idiosyncrasies and their implications for OSCM theory and practice. In doing so, it reveals intriguing, yet underexplored, OSCM phenomena about the continent while laying out actionable pathways through which research using African data can make novel theoretical contributions.
Relationship norms, rewards and consumer-brand bonds : when cultural context and attachment anxiety matter
Iveson, Abbie; Davvetas, Vasileios; Hultman, Magnus; Boso, Nathaniel (Emerald, 2026-12)
PURPOSE : The consumer–brand relationship (CBR) literature is grounded in the notion that CBRs mirror interpersonal relationships. Yet little research has examined whether the relational norms that underpin these relationships operate consistently across cultural contexts. This study challenges the assumption that consumers universally value balanced and equitable relationships. It examines two contrasting national settings to explore how the norms guiding relational engagement vary across cultural contexts, focusing on differences in relational norms (communal vs exchange) and relational rewards (intrinsic vs extrinsic). Cultural dimensions such as power distance provide a useful interpretive lens for understanding these differences. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : The study uses the student–university relationship as the empirical context to investigate cultural differences in CBRs. A cross-cultural survey was administered to 511 respondents in the United Kingdom and 263 respondents in Ghana. FINDINGS : The results reveal distinct relational patterns across the two cultural contexts examined. In the UK, communal and exchange-based CBRs aligned with conventional relationship theories. In Ghana, however, these patterns diverged from expected distinctions between communal and exchange norms. Furthermore, attachment anxiety interacted with cultural context, moderating the effects of relational norms and attenuating contextual differences. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : This study contributes to the growing body of CBR research by introducing a cross-cultural perspective. It demonstrates that relational norms are not universally applied but vary across contrasting cultural contexts and are further shaped by individual attachment styles. These findings offer actionable insights for relationship marketing strategists, highlighting the importance of adapting approaches to both cultural and individual differences.
Virtual burial societies and the negotiation of social support among migrants from African countries in Cape Town
Chekero, Tamuka (Sage, 2026)
This study examines the emergence and functions of virtual burial societies among migrants from African countries in Cape Town, South Africa. Against legal precarity and exclusion from formal welfare structures, migrants utilise Information and Communication Technologies, particularly WhatsApp and remittance platforms such as Mukuru, to fulfil social, cultural and financial obligations. Drawing on ethnographic data, the study demonstrates how these digitally mediated networks facilitate funeral coordination, emotional solidarity and timely financial contributions, ensuring ritual continuity. Virtual burial societies thus illuminate evolving modalities of informal social protection, resilience and digitally mediated collective care in African urban migration contexts.
Digital entrepreneurship and gendered boundaries : technology, work-life conflict, and well-being
Doargajudhur, Melina; Hosanoo, Zuberia; Rughoobur-Seetah, Soujata; Lichy, Jessica (Wiley, 2026)
This study explores how women entrepreneurs in a resource-constrained setting adopt and experience personal technology for business purposes within the broader context of digital transformation. Drawing on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and work–life border theory (WLBT), qualitative data were collected through 32 semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs operating micro and small enterprises in Mauritius. Findings reveal that perceived usefulness, ease of use, and institutional support drive the adoption of personal devices, enabling flexibility, cost savings, and improved responsiveness to clients. However, constant connectivity also blurs boundaries between work and family life, heightening stress, emotional fatigue, and security concerns, particularly in the absence of technical support. These dynamics unfold in gendered contexts shaped by cultural expectations and caregiving responsibilities, with technology simultaneously supporting business needs while intensifying work–life conflict. Building on these insights, this study proposes a conceptual model highlighting personal technology's dual impact on business performance and well-being, as well as the moderating and mitigating roles of gender norms, structural constraints, and support systems. The findings contribute to scholarship on gender and digital entrepreneurship, offering implications for gender-sensitive policies that promote equitable and supportive technology adoption in similar Global South (GS) contexts.
Tackling sexual harassment in the workplace—lessons to be learned
Lichy, Jessica; Bousquet, Carole; Middleton, Karen (Wiley, 2026-01)
This paper examines the impact of the hashtag social movement #BalanceTonPorc on women in France who have experienced workplace sexual harassment. The study aims to explore the extent to which the movement has inspired targets to report incidents of harassment and to seek justice, as well as to evaluate its influence on their self-awareness of harassment. Moreover, it identifies factors within the movement that may have limited its effectiveness in achieving positive outcomes. Drawing on interview data, the findings reveal that although participants expressed awareness of and appreciation for the movement, they perceived it as ineffective in driving meaningful change in their daily lives, workplace practices, or societal recognition of their rights. These results challenge the perception of hashtag activism as a definitive solution to workplace sexual harassment, underscoring the need for more comprehensive strategies and systemic efforts to address this pervasive issue.
Celebratio and Karoo Pak : growth strategies for pomegranates
Petzer, Daniël Johannes; Lew, Charlene (Emerald, 2025-12-10)
LEARNING OUTCOMES : The case provides the opportunity for students to consider key strategic choices related to growing a business over time, as well as to apply tools that were narrowly related in determining the future direction, competitive advantage and dynamic capabilities of a business. Once the case study has been discussed and analyzed, students should be able to: Actions you could take: • uncover the grand strategies available to grow a business; • use the VRIO framework to reveal the firm-specific resources a business possesses to gain a sustainable competitive advantage in the market; and • understand how strategic agility can lead to the development of dynamic capabilities that allow a business to prosper in the long run. CASE OVERVIEW/SYNOPSIS : This case study explores the journey of Gerhard Meyer in establishing and growing a successful pomegranate farm (Celebratio) and a packing and distribution facility (Karoo Pak) in the Klein Karoo semi-desert region of South Africa. The case highlights the challenges of establishing the business within the region and the innovative approaches adopted. The farming context offered insights to business students on how to evaluate strategic growth opportunities and to develop strategic agility when facing a series of setbacks. The case demonstrates Meyer’s efforts to create a flourishing ecosystem through stakeholder collaborations, a unique value proposition and value-adding products. Considering the opportunities facing the company, students need to establish whether the company should grow locally or globally and how firm-specific resources and dynamic capabilities can enable its strategic agility. COMPLEXITY ACADEMIC LEVEL : This study is suitable for Master of Business Administration level and for middle to senior management development programs or short courses in executive education focusing on business strategy and strategic management. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL : Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Advancing scholarship where Africa-based scholars dominate : a systematic review of migrant entrepreneurship in Africa
Fubah, Clavis Nwehfor; Barnard, Helena (Taylor and Francis, 2025-11-07)
Migrant entrepreneurs are generally assumed to come from rather than settle in Africa. This paper systematically reviews scholarship on immigrant entrepreneurs operating on the continent, a topic of interest to Africans more than the general scholarly community. Using Scopus and two Africa-focused databases, Africa Journals Online and Sabinet, we identified 123 relevant papers. Papers cross various disciplines are generally descriptive, theory-poor, from unranked journals, and with South Africa strongly overrepresented. Currently, papers mostly mirror themes from work in high-income contexts, with resourcing an important exception. We highlight opportunities to further advance research on the challenges of and diverse types of resources in a resource-poor context. The need to include Africans into scholarly endeavors is often expressed, but in this case African scholars dominate. We discuss how African scholars can improve the quality and impact of their work, both by facilitating the emergence of a community around the topic and thematically.
A framework for facilitating the success of family business intergenerational leadership succession planning in sub-Saharan Africa
Dzvairo, AbrahamTaft, Trevor; Taft, Trevor (Sage, 2025-11)
Most family business theories and models used in sub-Saharan Africa are anchored on the Western worldview. However, various researchers acknowledge the flaws of these theories when applied in cultures outside the Western world. A dearth of studies that infuse Western-developed leadership and management theories with indigenous African knowledge exists. This study aims to develop a strategy that solves the problem of family business failure in sub-Saharan Africa. Findings revealed that family business leaders must prepare for succession, develop and select successors, and infuse both Ubuntu philosophy and the Western worldview during succession planning. The study developed a leadership succession planning framework for family businesses in sub-Saharan Africa to close the gap. Using systems theory and thinking and intercultural management thinking, this study shows how infusing the indigenous African knowledge anchored on Ubuntu philosophy can lead to successful succession that may translate into intergenerational family business survival in sub-Saharan Africa.
Effectual flexibility and venture performance : the intervening effects of absorptive capacity
Osuigwe, Ubochioma Udo S. (AOSIS, 2025-10-17)
BACKGROUND : Increasingly, there is a determined effort to understand the actions, behaviours and decision logics that drive the performance of entrepreneurial ventures (EV). This study provides insight into the interplay between effectual flexibility (EF), absorptive capacity (AC), and venture performance (VP). AIM : The study aims to understand the relationship that exists between the flexibility principle of effectuation and VP as well as the interfering impact of AC in a moderating and/or mediating role. SETTING : The data used for the study were collected from EV operating in various sectors in South Africa. METHODS : Using data drawn from a sample of 685 EV, a partial least squared structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique was employed to examine the significance of the relationship between the key variables in the study. RESULTS : The results reveal that EF has a positively significant relationship with VP. While there was no support for moderating effects on this relationship, the findings confirmed that AC has partial and complementary mediating effects on the relationship. CONCLUSION : The findings suggest that EF enables EV to adapt in dynamic contexts while cocreating opportunities to achieve performance. The nuanced outcome supports the notion that EF and AC are distinct but complementary capabilities. CONTRIBUTION : This study contributes to the broader entrepreneurship landscape as it highlights that EF and AC are synergistic rather than interdependent capabilities. This means that ventures do benefit from both, but one does not rely on the other to function effectively.
Drivers for successful digital transformation in advancing environmental sustainability in manufacturing
Moshoeshoe, Gwendoline Nyakallo; Pelser, Theuns Gert (Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, 2025-10-20)
Digital technologies (DT) and AI are key drivers of Digital Transformation and have revolutionised how businesses operate, resulting in unprecedented progress in promoting sustainability. A critical gap in integrating environmental sustainability considerations within digital transformation (DTx) has been identified. A clear understanding of the relationship between these concepts among key stakeholders is needed to make informed decisions regarding DTx investments. The South African manufacturing sector is at a critical juncture as concerns about environmental degradation intensify and sustainable practices become imperative. Studies in a different context found that DTx has the potential to transform traditional capital–intensive manufacturing assets to enhance environmental sustainability. Through an exploratory qualitative study, this research aimed to identify key success drivers for DTx on environmental sustainability. In particular, AI's impact on greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction from the large manufacturing sector companies. This study uncovered eight key drivers for successfully integrating AI technologies for sustainability, defined internal and external drivers, and benefits, challenges and risks. The results indicate that while AI adoption is still in the early phase, the study found that the benefits are indirect. Findings confirmed that there are significant hurdles to overcome for a successful AI-driven DTx to advance manufacturing environmental sustainability practices. The present study will be valuable to researchers, practitioners, government and policymakers.
How value perspectives influence decision-making in the South African private healthcare sector
Laubscher, Anchen; Rodseth, Reitze N.; Retief, Francois; Saville, Adrian David (Public Library of Science, 2025-02-04)
BACKGROUND : Every healthcare clinical event aims to create value at a certain cost. This value has been defined as the outcome achieved (the degree to which a care event achieved a clinical goal) divided by the cost incurred (determined by the combined price charged by the care provides) to generate the outcome. Subsequently, patient experience has been included as a third factor contributing to value of care, but its value and relationship relative to clinical outcome and event cost is not well understood. This cross-sectional comparative study explored the relative importance of 1) clinical outcome, 2) event cost, and 3) patient experience as they relate to the value of care in the South African private healthcare context. MATERIALS AND METHOD : Using a value perspectives survey, healthcare consumers (n = 662) and healthcare providers (n = 318) distributed 100 points between the three factors according to how they perceived their value. They were then asked to assess the value of the three factors across six clinical scenarios progressing in clinical severity. RESULTS : For all scenarios, all participants valued patient experience above event cost, but lower than clinical outcome. However, there were significant differences between consumers and providers in the relative value assigned to each of the three factors. These values changed as the severity of the surgical and medical scenarios changed. Patient experience was consistently assigned a higher value than event cost, thereby making a strong argument for its inclusion into the healthcare value equation. CONCLUSION : Both South African healthcare consumers and providers assigned significant value to patient experience across a range of clinical scenarios. These findings suggest that patient experience should be included as a factor in the Value Care Index (VCI) where VCI = (Outcome ÷ Cost) x Patient Experience.
Situational leadership styles and trust development in supervisory relationships
Ehlers, Lukas Ignatius (AOSIS, 2025-11)
ORIENTATION : Trust is a critical element in supervisory relationships, influencing subordinates’ willingness to follow leadership directives. Leadership style shapes trust perceptions in these relationships. RESEARCH PURPOSE : This study examined the alignment between situational leadership (SL) styles or stages (directing, coaching, supporting, delegating) and four supervisory relationship trust (SURT) characteristics or stages (compliance, fairness, good faith, benevolence). MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY : While research has explored leadership styles and trust, the relationship between SL and specific SURT facilitators remains underexplored, particularly in South African supervisory contexts. RESEARCH APPROACH/DESIGN AND METHOD : A quantitative, exploratory design was used. Convenience sampling yielded 26 SL workshop attendees who participated in structured interviews. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Spearman’s rank-order tests assessed differences and relationships. MAIN FINDINGS : Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in trust perceptions across SL stages were found. Compliance and fairness (transactional trust) were generally higher in early stages (directing, coaching), while good faith and benevolence (relational trust) were more evident in later stages (supporting, delegating). Given the small sample (n = 26), these findings should be regarded as promising, but tentative. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : Results suggest SURT may develop in four stages aligned with SL progression. Leaders could adapt their style to emphasise the trust-building behaviours most relevant to each stage. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD : This study adds to leadership–trust literature by providing promising initial empirical evidence of a link between SL stages with trust-building behaviours.
The evolution of athlete branding : a bibliometric analysis
Golmohammadi, Hamed; Hasaan, Ali; Berndt, Adele; Fişne, Mücahit (Sage, 2025)
Athlete branding has become an increasingly important topic in sports management and marketing, particularly in the digital era. This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of athlete branding research from 2000 to 2024 to map the field's key developments and trends. Using performance analysis and science mapping, this study examined related scholarly publications and identified prolific authors, influential journals, and dominant themes. This study highlights the evolving nature of athlete branding and offers future research directions at the intersection of sports, business, and digital media. Specific research opportunities linked to these themes have been identified in the literature, and this study also suggests location, contextual, and methodological research. This review offers a deeper understanding of actionable research opportunities for both scholars and practitioners in the field.
Religious social capital and entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation of Indian Muslim youth entrepreneurs in South Africa
Kaka, Fatima; Scheepers, Caren Brenda; Mamabolo, Anastacia (Inderscience, 2025-06)
The rate of entrepreneurial activity among South Africa's youth, a group aged 18 to 35 years, is low. The role of religion in promoting entrepreneurship among South Africa's youth remains relatively under-researched, despite the importance of religious social capital as a contributor to entrepreneurial success. We explore how entrepreneurs rely on their religious social capital to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. The narrative qualitative study was conducted in the context of the Indian Muslim community within South Africa. The data gathered from 12 Indian Muslim entrepreneurs showed that their social capital influences their pursuit of meaning when engaging in business activities. Pursuing meaning influences how they construct and access networks, resources, and trust-modulated or regulated business transactions. These elements of pursuit of purpose and meaning, resources, networks, and trust-modulated activities influenced by their religious social capital, contribute towards business development by providing opportunities for expansion and access to customers.
How to shape internationalization : footprint configurations of knowledge-intensive service firms
Salvoldi, Rany; Brock, David M. (Elsevier, 2026-02)
In today’s increasingly complex and globalized business landscape, knowledge-intensive service (KIS) firms face both opportunities and challenges—particularly in determining the optimal geographic scope of their internationalization strategies. Existing literature offers two contrasting narratives: one underscores the difficulties posed by KIS-specific characteristics such as knowledge intangibility and institutional embeddedness; the other highlights the advantages of expanding global reach. To reconcile these views, we adopt a configurational approach to examine how international footprints can be structured to enhance firm evaluation. Drawing on a categorization lens, we analyze how two key dimensions of international footprint—extent and dispersion—interact with firm-level contingencies to influence evaluation outcomes. Based on a configurational analysis of 50 European law firms, we identify multiple equifinal configurations of internationalization associated with superior evaluation. These configurations range from minimal to extensive international presence, and from regional concentration to broad geographic dispersion. Notably, our findings emphasize international dispersion as a critical factor in achieving favorable evaluations. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of KIS internationalization and informs ongoing debates about the optimal scale and spatial reach of global expansion strategies for KIS firms. HIGHLIGHTS • Today’s increasingly knowledge intensive and globalizing business environment creates both opportunities and challenges to knowledge-intensive service (KIS) firms. An important set of opportunities and challenges concern the “where?” of international locations. • Drawing on configurational and categorical thinking, we explore how different combinations of international extent and dispersion affect KIS firm evaluation. • Our theoretical puzzle broaches two contrasting narratives in prior literature: one emphasizing constraints due to KIS-specific traits like knowledge intangibility and institutional embeddedness; and the other highlighting benefits of KIS firms expanding global reach. And our study bridges these perspectives. • We analyze European law firms using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Findings reveal that firm evaluation is not dependent on the extent of international presence alone. Rather, firms that operate across diverse markets—even with limited host countries—can derive knowledge creation benefits and higher evaluation. • Our findings include international footprint patterns both with and without high international extent, and reveal that evaluation is high when international footprint is dispersed to diverse markets, even when internationalization extent is limited. Especially influential is institutional dispersion—engaging with a range of institutional contexts. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how KIS firms can strategically structure their international footprints to maximize evaluation.
Exploring the green purchase intention-behavior gap among South African millennials using an expanded planned behavior model
Mabaso, Boitumelo; Osakwe, Christian Nedu; Jibril, Abdul Bashiru (Taylor and Francis, 2025-08-01)
This study investigates the determinants of green purchase behaviour among South African millennials, drawing on a sample of 189 respondents to elucidate the most salient antecedents that drive green consumption within this demographic. Anchored in an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the research incorporates environmental concern and personal norms as additional predictors of favourable attitudes toward green products, while also assessing whether willingness to pay a premium and perceived consumer effectiveness moderate the intention-behaviour relationship. Employing partial least squares factor-based structural equation modeling (PLSF-SEM), the analysis reveals that both environmental concern and personal norms exert a significant positive influence on consumers’ attitudes, which, in turn, emerge as robust predictors of green purchase intention. Furthermore, intention was found to significantly predict actual green purchase behaviour. Contrary to expectations, subjective norms did not exert a meaningful effect on green purchase intentions, and the hypothesised moderating roles of willingness to pay and perceived consumer effectiveness were not empirically supported. These findings contribute to the growing discourse on green consumption in particular and eco-conscious behavior in general by highlighting the primacy of internalized values and attitudes over social influence or economic considerations in shaping green/eco-conscious behaviours among millennial consumers in emerging markets.
"Managing less influence with a better understanding : the benefit for low-income countries of understanding distance as a field
Mahomva, Blessing; Barnard, Helena (Emerald, 2025-05)
PURPOSE : In international business research, distance connotes unfamiliarity and misunderstanding. This paper aims to theorize the distance between low-income and higher-income countries, taking as point of departure that low-income countries are generally unimportant business partners of high-income countries, but dependent on the goods, services and markets of many of them. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : Because low-income countries are dependent upon higher income countries, they have a greater incentive to understand high-income countries than the reverse. Higher income countries not only know little about low-income countries, but among themselves also have varied and often competing interests and concerns. This changes how low-income countries, actors with little influence, make sense of distance. The authors use literature on psychic distance and institutional fields to develop this argument. FINDINGS : Rather than managing a series of dyadic distances, low-income countries seek to situate themselves optimally vis-à-vis the range of higher income countries with which they interact. By developing a holistic view of the entire transnational institutional field, they can better navigate and strategically position themselves amongst the more influential high-income countries. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS : This work is conceptual, and the authors recommend future research to empirically test their propositions. SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS : This work explains why low-income countries do not necessarily seek aligned interests among higher income counterparts. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : Distance is rarely researched from the perspective of low-income countries. Building on the psychic distance literature, the authors argue that low-income countries have asymmetrically greater motivation and opportunities to overcome distance. This understanding of distance represents a resource for them in conducting business internationally.
Revolutionising autonomous vehicles : inspiring consumers in the age of Industry 4.0 technologies
McLeay, Fraser; Olya, Hesam; Lichy, Jessica; Pandit, Ameet (Routledge, 2025)
Advances in AI and Industry 4.0 technologies are reshaping society, yet consumer resistance to innovations like autonomous vehicles (AVs) remains significant. Despite the proven benefits of fully autonomous vehicles, adoption lags. This study addresses gaps in AV adoption research by developing a sequential theoretical framework to explore the psychological relationships between AV stressors, benefits, trust, adoption difficulty, and consumer resistance. Grounded in trust, JTBD theory, and inspiration theories, the model was tested on 671 consumers in Australia and the USA, revealing that trust and inspiration play a crucial role in reducing resistance. Notably, inspired consumers exhibit lower resistance, suggesting a focus on AV benefits to foster inspiration and facilitate adoption. The study’s findings have practical implications for promoting AV adoption, highlighting the pivotal role of trust and inspiration in reducing consumer resistance. Marketers and policymakers can benefit from this research by designing strategies that inspire consumers and ease adoption barriers.
Conscientious corporate brands : the roles of organisational purpose, organisational culture, brand authenticity and corporate social responsibility
Abratt, Russell; Quaye, Emmanuel Silva; Kleyn, Nicola Susan (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025-09)
The Conscientious corporate brand (CCB) is a nascent concept whose importance has grown in recent years due to stakeholder demands for organisations to address environmental and social changes as well as to display ethical behaviour in business dealings. Amidst calls for the identification and validation of the antecedents and mediators of CCBs, the purpose of this paper is to establish the role organisational purpose, ethical organisational culture, CSR and brand authenticity plays in shaping stakeholder perceptions of a CCB. Two studies were conducted, using samples obtained from Prolific. In study 1, the results show that organisational purpose is a powerful concept that positively influences the perception of a strong CCB by stakeholders, and that organisational culture moderates the relationship between organisational purpose and brand authenticity. In study 2, our results show that brand authenticity mediates the link between organisational purpose and stakeholder perceptions of a CCB and our findings also suggest that corporate brands with a strong organisational purpose are more likely to be perceived by stakeholders to be a CCB. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are suggested.

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