Publications
Publications
- 2022
- HBS Working Paper Series
Moral Deteriorations Sever Firm Identity
By: Julian De Freitas, Zarema Khon, Pechthida Kim and Samuel G.B. Johnson
Abstract
Firms change over time. Which changes are so damaging that consumers believe the firm’s very
identity ceases to exist? We explored this question using Twitter data and eight experiments
involving nearly 3,000 subjects. Consumers judged that moral deteriorations were particularly
disruptive to a firm’s identity—just as or even more so than moral improvements, product
changes, and brand personality changes. This effect occurred because consumers thought that
morally good traits were essential to a firm’s identity, such that losing these traits seemed to
sever the firm’s persisting identity. The effect was not explained by whether the firm was viewed
as still being in the same category of industry nor by whether a change was viewed as tainting
the firm. Whether a change was identity disrupting also depended on individual moral values:
liberals viewed changes toward a conservative direction as severing a firm’s identity, and vice
versa for conservatives. Moreover, consumers acted on these feelings when on social media sites,
deactivating their Twitter accounts after Twitter underwent a moral deterioration that seemed to
sever its existing identity. Together, these findings have marketing implications for brand
management, brand activism, and countering negative firm stereotypes.
Keywords
Corporate Identity; Morality; Brand Activism; Social Media; Business Ethics; Firm Stereotypes; Consumer Behavior; Public Opinion; Moral Sensibility; Brands and Branding; Government and Politics
Citation
De Freitas, Julian, Zarema Khon, Pechthida Kim, and Samuel G.B. Johnson. "Moral Deteriorations Sever Firm Identity." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-077, June 2022.