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Natural Born Supporters? The Role of Personality Traits for Stakeholders' Moral Emotions and Behavioural Intentions Towards Activist Corporate Brands in Online Firestorms

Emily-Louise Rogotzki & Christian Rudeloff

Corporate Reputation Review2025https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-025-00225-6article
AJG 1ABDC C
Weight
0.37

What the paper says

Abstract Corporate brands are increasingly expected to take a stand on controversial issues. In a polarised and digitalised world, this can lead to online firestorms which may in turn have negative impacts on brands. In order to navigate such crises, a better understanding of the determinants of stakeholder reactions in brand activism firestorms is important. Against this backdrop, this paper examines how the Big Five personality traits influence moral emotions and behavioural intentions, specifically responses towards the corporate brand and issue advocacy. A scenario-based survey using the example of a fictitious online firestorm on Instagram was conducted ( n = 178). Hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analyses and bootstrapping. The findings indicate that individuals who are open, extraverted, and agreeable tend to exhibit other-praising emotions and positive responses, thereby supporting the activist corporate brand in the context of firestorms. In contrast, individuals who are neurotic tend to display other-condemning emotions and negative responses. Overall, this study makes a contribution to the existing literature on the relationship between personality traits and stakeholder behaviour. The findings illustrate the role of the Big Five personality traits in shaping responses during brand activism crises. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this has yet to be considered in the context of existing research.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-025-00225-6

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@article{emily-louise2025,
  title        = {{Natural Born Supporters? The Role of Personality Traits for Stakeholders' Moral Emotions and Behavioural Intentions Towards Activist Corporate Brands in Online Firestorms}},
  author       = {Emily-Louise Rogotzki & Christian Rudeloff},
  journal      = {Corporate Reputation Review},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-025-00225-6},
}

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Natural Born Supporters? The Role of Personality Traits for Stakeholders' Moral Emotions and Behavioural Intentions Towards Activist Corporate Brands in Online Firestorms

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.