Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Achieving cultural relevance in technomediated platforms: instant cultural branding and controversial clicktivism

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Italian Journal of Marketing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cultural branding acknowledges brands’ power as cultural artifacts that infuse culture with meanings and absorb new meanings from culture. The last mile of brand humanization sees brands act as citizens that construct their meanings through taking active part in socio-political discourse. This participation has been magnified and challenged by digital platforms that activate clicktivism practices to propagate cultural values. Our study is aimed at exploring how clicktivism is currently being leveraged by brands to achieve cultural relevance. We set our study in the clicktivist engagement solicited by the political mandate of Donald Trump, as numerous brands saw in Trump’s contested political agenda an opportunity to stand up and achieve cultural relevance. We term this new brand activism and its temporal dynamics as “instant cultural branding”, pointing at branding initiatives that apply fast, real time communication logics to get organically embedded in technomediated conversations with consumers, leveraging on cogent socio-cultural and political issues. Our findings reveal how, despite ambivalence of perceived authenticity of brand discourse can cause strong consumer criticism in digital conversations, deliberate ambiguity of instant cultural branding proves to be a trigger of clicktivist engagement. Ambiguity in taking socio-political stance resonates with the cultural norms of contemporary shifting consumers’ activism and ideology. Hence, controversial clicktivism emerges as a new dimension of cultural relevance in the fast temporality of technomediated discourse.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable for this section.

References

  • Allagui, I., & Breslow, H. (2016). Social media for public relations: Lessons from four effective cases. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 20–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, C., Fournier, S., & Miller, F. (2008). Brands and their meaning makers. In C. Haugtvedt, P. Herr, & F. Kardes (Eds.), Handbook of consumer psychology (pp. 781–822). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angell, R., Gorton, M., Bottomley, P., Marder, B., Bhaskar, S., & White, J. (2019). News you can use! Evaluating the effectiveness of newsjacking based content on social media. Information Technology and People.

  • Armstrong, K. (2005). A short history of myth. Edinburgh: Canongate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arvidsson, & Caliandro, A. (2016). Brand public. Journal of Consumer Research, 42(5), 727–748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Askegaard, S. (2006). Brands as a global ideoscape. In J. Schroeder & M. Salzer-Mörling (Eds.), Brand culture (pp. 91–102). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardhi, E., & Eckhardt, G. M. (2017). Liquid consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(3), 582–597.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belk, R. W. (2013). Extended self in a digital world. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(3), 477–500.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beverland, M. B. (2009). Building brand authenticity. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biraghi, S., Gambetti, R., & Schultz, D. E. (2017). Advancing a citizenship approach to corporate branding: A societal view. International Studies of Management and Organization, 27(2), 206–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brenan, M. (2018). Trump rated worse than other modern-day presidents on ethics. Gallup.

  • Brown, S., McDonagh, P., & Shultz, C. J. (2013). Titanic: Consuming the myths and meanings of an ambiguous brand. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(4), 595–614.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cayla, J., & Eckhart, G. (2008). Asian brands and the shaping of a transnational imagined community. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(2), 216–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, J., & Schwarz, N. (2010). Use does not wear ragged the fabric of friendship: thinking of objects as alive makes people less willing to replace them. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 20(2), 138–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, R. P., Wan, E. W., & Levy, E. (2017). The effect of social exclusion on consumer preference for anthropomorphized brands. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(1), 23–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chmaytelli, M., & Noueihed, L. (2017). Global backlash gorws against Trump’s immigration order. Reuters.

  • Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), (2016). Trump Inc. The Etics crisis in Trump’s first 100 days.

  • Dame, A. (2016). Making a name for yourself: Tagging as transgender ontological practice on Tumblr. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 33(1), 23–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1980). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia. Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delgado-Ballester, E., Palazòn, M., & Pelàez, J. (2019). Anthromorphized vs objectified brands: Which brand version is more loved? European Journal of Management and Business Economics, 21(2), 2444–8494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epley, N., Waytz, A., Akalis, S., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2008). When we need a human: Motivational determinants of anthropomorphism. Social Cognition, 26(2), 143–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epley, N., Waytz, A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). On seeing human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism. Psychological Review, 114(4), 864–886.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(4), 343–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier, S., & Alvarez, C. (2019). How brands acquire culture meaning. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 29(3), 519–534.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier, S., & Eckhart, G. (2018). Managing the human in human brands. Gfk Marketing Intelligence Review, 10(1), 30–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gajanan, M. (2016). Donald Trump’s election victory sparks protests across the world. Time.

  • George, J., & Leidner, D. (2018). From clicktivism to hacktivism: Understanding digital activism. Information and Organization.

  • Grossman, P. (2018). How do brands become part of our culture?.Forbes.

  • Halupka, M. (2014). Clicktivism: A systematic heuristic. Policy and Internet, 6(2), 115–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, D. L., & Novak, T. P. (2018). Consumer and object experience in the internet of things: An assemblage theory approach. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(6), 1178–1204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holt, D. B. (2002). Why do brands cause trouble? A dialectical theory of consumer culture and branding. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(1), 70–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holt, D. B. (2004). How brands become icons: The principle of cultural branding. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holt, D. B. (2016). Branding in the age of social media. Harvard Business Review.

  • Jenkins, H. (2012). Textual poachers: Television fans and participatory culture. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, H., Ito, M., & Boyd, D. (2016). Participatory culture in a networked Era: A conversation on youth, learning, commerce and politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerns, C. (2014). Trendology: Building an advantage through data-driven RTM. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khamis, S. (2019). “There’s nothing wrong with the picture”: Representations of diversity through cultural branding. Media International Australia, 172(1), 89–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S., & McGill, A. L. (2011). Gaming with Mr. Slot or gaming the slot machine? Power, anthropomorphism, and risk perception. Journal of Consumer Research, 38(1), 94–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V. (2015). Netnography: Redefined (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V. (2019a). Consuming technocultures: An extended JCR curation. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(3), 620–627.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V. (2019b). YouTube utopianism: Social Media profanation and the clicktivism of capitalist critique. Journal of Business Research, 98, 65–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V. (2020). Netnography: The essential guide to qualitative social media research (3rd ed.). London: SAGE Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V., & Nocker, M. (2018). Netnography Engaging with the challenges. In A. Bryman & D. A. Buchanan (Eds.), Unconventional methodology in organization and management research (pp. 127–146). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozinets, R. V., Patterson, A., & Ashman, R. (2017). Networks of desire: How technology increases our passion to consume. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(5), 659–682.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y-H, & Hsieh, G. (2013). Does Slacktivism hurt activism? The effects of moral balancing and consistency in online activism. In Paper presented at the proceedings on the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems, Paris, France.

  • MacInnis, D. J., & Folkes, V. S. (2017). Humanizing brands: When brands seem to be like me, part of me, and in a relationship with me. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(3), 355–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCracken, G. (1986). Culture and consumption: A theoretical account of the structure and movement of the cultural meaning of consumer goods. Journal of Consumer Research, 13(1), 71–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mele, C. & Correal, A. (2016). Not Our President: Protests spread after Donald Trump’s election. The New York Times.

  • Morhart, F., Malar, L., Guèvremont, A., Girardin, F., & Grohmann, B. (2015). Brand authenticity: An integrative framework and measurement scale. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 25(2), 200–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morozov, E. (2009). The brave new world of Slacktivism. Foreign Policy.

  • Newman, A. (2017). Highlights: Reaction to Trump’s Travel Ban. The New York Times.

  • Pavia, G. (2011). From Clicktivism to web-storytelling. Audiences from TV politics to web participation. In Paper presented at leadership and new trends in political communication, Rome, Italy.

  • Preece, C., Kerrigan, F., & O’Reilly, D. (2019). License to assemble: Theorizing brand longevity. Journal of Consumer Research, 46(2), 330–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich, G. (2018). Hitting a Wall? The trump administration meets immigration federalism. The Journal of Federalism, 48(3), 372–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saramo, S. (2017). The meta-violence of trump. European Journal of American Studies, 12(2), 59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder, J. E. (2009). The cultural codes of branding. Marketing Theory, 9(1), 123–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schulman, S. W. (2009). The case against Mass E-mails: Perverse incentives and low quality public participation in U.S. Federal Rulemaking. Policy and Internet, 1(1), 23–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, D. M. (2011). Real-time marketing & PR. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheinin, D. A., Varki, S., & Ashley, C. (2011). The differential effect of ad novelty and message usefulness on brand judgments. Journal of Advertising, 40(3), 5–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skoric, M. M. (2012). What is slack about Slacktivism? Methodological and Conceptual Issues in Cyber Activism Research, 50, 77–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, M. C., & Wilson, B. G. (2016). The dynamic role of social media during Hurrican #Sandy: An introduction of the STREMII model to whether storm of the crisis lifecycle. Computer in Human Behavior, 54, 639–646.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Rompay, T. J., & Veltkamp, M. (2014). Product packaging metaphors: Effects of ambiguity and explanatory information on consumer appreciation and brand perception. Psychology and Marketing, 31(6), 404–415.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiser, S. (2012). Authentic the politics of ambivalence in a brand culture. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, M. (2010). Clicktivism is ruining leftist activism. The Guardian.

  • Willemsen, M., Mazerant, K., Kamphuis, A., & Van der Veen, G. (2018). Let’s Get Real (Time)! The potential of real-time marketing to catalyze the sharing of brand messages. International Journal of Advertising, 37(5), 828–848.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yancey-Bragg, N. (2019). Supreme Court travel ban verdict reignites fierce debate over immigration. Usa Today.

  • Yuhas, A., & Sidahmed, M., (2017). Is this a Muslim ban? Trump’s executive order explained. The Guardian.

Download references

Funding

Not applicable for this section.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, LABCOM, Largo Gemelli, 1, 20123, Milan, Italy

    Silvia Biraghi, Rossella Chiara Gambetti & Angela Antonia Beccanulli

Authors
  1. Silvia Biraghi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rossella Chiara Gambetti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Angela Antonia Beccanulli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Angela Antonia Beccanulli.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Not applicable for this section.

Code availability

Not applicable for this section.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Biraghi, S., Gambetti, R.C. & Beccanulli, A.A. Achieving cultural relevance in technomediated platforms: instant cultural branding and controversial clicktivism. Ital. J. Mark. 2020, 163–187 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43039-020-00013-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43039-020-00013-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation