Examining the Concept of Brand Activism with Bibliometric Analysis Method

Abstract

Purpose - The main purpose of this study is to examine the studies on brand activism in the fields of business management, administration, economics and communication using the bibliometric analysis method.
Design/methodology/approach - Based on the purpose of the study, 234 studies on the subject of “brand activism” in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) database were examined using the bibliometric analysis method, covering the period 2001-2024 until 04.09.2024. VOSviewer and Rstudio programs were used in the analysis.
Findings - As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the concepts of “brand activism, social media, activism, branding, corporate social responsibility” were prominent and frequently used in the literature. In the context of temporal analysis, it was concluded that the first studies were mainly examined with the subjects of “corporate social responsibility, branding, activism, consumer activism, authenticity”. When the change in the subject over time was examined, it was observed that the change occurred in the context of issues such as “brand activism, woke washing, brand hate, brand equity”.
Discussion - There are various studies in the literature on brand activism. Within the scope of this study, the transformation of the subject in the fields of business management, management, economy and communication has been examined. In this context, the issues that have come to the fore in recent years regarding brand activism can be evaluated and the relationships between them can be investigated.