Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

CEO activism refers to corporate leaders speaking out on social and environmental policy issues not directly related to their company’s core business, which distinguishes it from nonmarket strategy and traditional corporate social responsibility. In the first study of this phenomenon, we implement two framed field experiments to provide evidence on how CEO activism can influence public opinions about government policies and consumer attitudes about the CEO’s company.

Keywords

business and society corporate social policy leadership social activism values environmental regulations

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ansolabehere

de Figueiredo

J. M.

Snyder

J. M.

Jr. (2003). Why is there so little money in politics? (NBER Working Paper No. 9409). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Baron

D. P.

(1995). Integrated strategy: Market and nonmarket components. California Management Review, 37(2), 47-65.

Baron

D. P.

(2012). Business and its environment. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Behr

(2010, September 10). GE’s Immelt says U.S. policy deadlock holds back clean energy development. New York Times. Retrieved from https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/09/24/24climatewire-ges-immelt-says-us-policy-deadlock-holds-bac-86164.html?pagewanted=all

Bemmaor

A. C.

(1995). Predicting behavior from intention-to-buy measures: The parametric case. Journal of Marketing Research, 32(7), 176-191.

Berry

(2014, October 30). As Tim Cook announces he’s gay, other workplaces lack equality. SFGate. Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Tim-Cook-s-announcement-he-is-gay-doesn-t-end-5858861.php

Bonardi

J.-P.

Holburn

G. L. F.

Vanden Bergh

R. G.

(2006). Nonmarket strategy performance: Evidence from US electric utilities. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 1209-1228.

Briscoe

Chin

M. K.

Hambrick

D. C.

(2014). CEO ideology as an element of the corporate opportunity structure for social activists. Academy of Management Journal, 57, 1786-1809.

Brown

L. D.

Cai

T. T.

DasGupta

(2001). Interval estimation for a binomial proportion. Statistical Science, 16(2), 101-117.

10.

Chatterji

A. K.

Findley

Jensen

N. M.

Meier

Nielson

(2016). Field experiments in strategy research. Strategic Management Journal, 37, 116-132.

11.

Chatterji

Toffel

(2015, March 24). Starbucks’ “Race Together” campaign and the upside of CEO activism. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/03/starbucks-race-together-campaign-and-the-upside-of-ceo-activism

12.

Chatterji

Toffel

(2018). The new CEO activists. Harvard Business Review, 96(1), 78-89.

13.

Chen

Crossland

Luo

(2014). Making the same mistake all over again: CEO overconfidence and corporate resistance to corrective feedback. Strategic Management Journal, 36, 1513-1535.

14.

Chin

M. K.

Hambrick

D. C.

Trevino

L. K.

(2013). Political ideologies of CEOs: The influence of executives’ values on corporate social responsibility. Administrative Science Quarterly, 58, 197-232.

15.

Cobb-Walgren

C. J.

Ruble

C. A.

Donthu

(1995). Brand equity, brand preference, and purchase intent. Journal of Advertising, 24(3), 25-40.

16.

Cook

(2015, March 29). Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination “Religious Freedom” laws are dangerous. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/pro-discrimination-religious-freedom-laws-are-dangerous-to-america/2015/03/29/bdb4ce9e-d66d-11e4-ba28-f2a685dc7f89_story.html?utm_term=.a4589e2f4263

17.

Corner

Markowitz

Pidgeon

(2014). Public engagement with climate change: the role of human values. WIREs Climate Change, 5, 411-422.

18.

Dahan

N. M.

Hadani

Schuler

D. A.

(2013). The governance challenges of corporate political activity. Business & Society, 52, 365-387.

19.

Delmas

M. A.

Aragon-Correa

J. A.

(2016). Field experiments in corporate sustainability research: Testing strategies for behavior change in markets and organizations. Organization & Environment, 29, 391-400.

20.

Delmas

M. A.

Lyon

T. P.

Maxwell

J. W.

(2019). Understanding the role of the corporation in sustainability transitions. Organization & Environment, 32, 87-97.

21.

Di Giuli

Kostovetsky

. (2014). Are red or blue companies more likely to go green? Politics and corporate social responsibility. Journal of Financial Economics, 111, 158-180.

22.

Dodd

M. D.

Supa

D. W.

(2014). Conceptualizing and measuring “corporate social advocacy” communication: Examining the impact on corporate financial performance. Public Relations Journal, 8(3), 2-23.

23.

Edelman. (2018, May 1). 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer: Expectations for CEOs. Retrieved from https://www.edelman.com/post/trust-barometer-expectations-for-ceos

24.

Eesley

Lenox

M. J.

(2006). Firm responses to secondary stakeholder action. Strategic Management Journal, 27, 765-781.

25.

Finkelstein

Hambrick

D. C.

(1996). Strategic leadership: Top executives and their effects on organizations. St. Paul, MN: South-Western College.

26.

Fishbein

Ajzen

(1975). Belief, attitudes, intention, and behavior. An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

27.

Frank

B. H.

(2013, November 19). Microsoft, Apple and other tech titans get top marks in survey of LGBT inclusion policies. Geek Wire. Retrieved from http://www.geekwire.com/2014/microsoft-apple-tech-titans-get-top-marks-survey-lgbt-inclusion-policies/

28.

Gallup. (2016, June 1). In depth: Topics A-Z—Confidence in institutions. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx

29.

Goldman Sachs. (2016). About us. Retrieved from https://www.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/about-us/index.html

30.

Grewal

Gotlieb

Marmorstein

(1994). The moderating effects of message framing and source credibility on the price-perceived risk relationship. Journal of Consumer Research, 21(1), 145-153.

31.

Gromet

D. M.

Kunreuther

Larrick

R. P.

(2013). Political ideology affects energy-efficiency attitudes and choices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110, 9314-9319.

32.

Gustin

(2017, June 6). Over 1,400 U.S. cities, states and businesses vow to meet Paris climate commitments. Inside Climate News. Retrieved from https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05062017/paris-climate-agreement-trump-bloomberg-cities-states-businesses

33.

Hadani

Bonardi

J. P.

Dahan

N. M.

(2017). Corporate political activity, public policy uncertainty, and firm outcomes: A meta-analysis. Strategic Organization, 15, 338-366.

34.

Hadani

Dahan

N. M.

Doh

J. P.

(2015). The CEO as chief political officer: Managerial discretion and corporate political activity. Journal of Business Research, 68, 2330-2337.

35.

Hambrick

D. C.

Mason

P. A.

(1984). Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review, 9, 193-206.

36.

Harrison

G. W.

List

J. A.

(2004). Field experiments. Journal of Economic Literature, 42, 1009-1055.

37.

Hess

Warren

D. E.

(2008). The meaning and meaningfulness of corporate social initiatives. Business and Society Review, 113, 163-197.

38.

Hillman

A. J.

Keim

G. D.

Schuler

(2004). Corporate political activity: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 30, 837-857.

39.

Infosino

W. J.

(1986). Forecasting new product sales from likelihood of purchase ratings. Marketing Science, 5, 372-384.

40.

Jenni

Loewenstein

(1997). Explaining the identifiable victim effect. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 14, 235-257.

41.

Kahan

D. M.

Peters

Wittlin

Slovic

Ouellette

L. L.

Braman

Mandel

(2012). The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks. Nature Climate Change, 2, 732-735.

42.

Karnani

(2010, August 23). The case against corporate social responsibility. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703338004575230112664504890

43.

Kelly

Dobbin

(1998). How affirmative action became diversity management: Employer response to antidiscrimination law, 1961 to 1996. American Behavioral Scientist, 41, 960-984.

44.

Lakoff

(2004). Don’t think of an elephant! Know your values and frame the debate: The essential guide for progressives, including post-election updates. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green.

45.

Lantos

G. P.

(2001). The boundaries of strategic corporate social responsibility. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18, 595-632.

46.

Lyon

T. P.

Delmas

M. A.

Maxwell

J. W.

Bansal

Chiroleu-Assouline

Crifo

. . . Wijen

(2018). CSR needs CPR: Corporate sustainability and politics. California Management Review, 60(4), 5-24.

47.

Lyon

T. P.

Maxwell

J. W.

(2011). Greenwash: Corporate environmental disclosure under threat of audit. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 20(1), 3-41.

48.

Margolis

J. D.

Walsh

J. P.

(2003). Misery loves companies: Rethinking social initiatives by business. Administrative Science Quarterly, 48, 268-305.

49.

Mazutis

D. D.

(2013). The CEO effect: A longitudinal, multilevel analysis of the relationship between executive orientation and corporate social strategy. Business & Society, 52, 631-648.

50.

McCright

A. M.

Dunlap

R. E.

(2011). The politicization of climate change and polarization in the American public’s views of global warming, 2001-2010. Sociological Quarterly, 52, 155-194.

51.

McWilliams

Siegel

D. S.

Wright

P. M.

(2006). Corporate social responsibility: Strategic implications. Journal of Management Studies, 43(1), 1-18.

52.

Mikeska

Harvey

E. J.

(2015). The political CEO: An event study comparing consumer attributions of CEO behavior. Social Science Quarterly, 96(1), 76-92.

53.

Morwitz

V. G.

Schmittlein

(1992). Using segmentation to improve sales forecasts based on purchase intent: Which “intenders” actually buy? Journal of Marketing Research, 29, 391-405.

54.

Oreskes

Conway

E. M.

(2010). Merchants of doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.

55.

Pierce

Rogers

Snyder

J. A.

(2015). Losing hurts: The happiness impact of partisan electoral loss. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 3, 44-59.

56.

Plambeck

Weber

(2009). CEO ambivalence and responses to strategic issues. Organization Science, 20, 993-1010.

57.

Porter

M. E.

Kramer

M. R.

(2006). Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review, 84(12), 78-85.

58.

Romm

(2014, December 8). Microsoft CEO in D.C. for immigration, patents. Politico. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/with-immigration-privacy-ahead-microsoft-ceo-reaches-out-to-hill-113409.html

59.

Rudy

B. C.

Johnson

A. F.

(2016). The chief political officer: CEO characteristics and firm investment in corporate political activity. Business & Society, 58, 612-643.

60.

Scheufele

D. A.

Tewksbury

(2007). Framing, agenda setting, and priming: The evolution of three media effects models. Journal of Communication, 57(1), 9-20.

61.

Sewall

M. A.

(1978). Market segmentation based on consumer ratings of proposed product designs. Journal of Marketing Research, 15, 557-564.

62.

Silk

A. J.

Urban

G. L.

(1978). Pre-test-market evaluation of new packaged goods: A model and measurement methodology. Journal of Marketing Research, 15, 171-191.

63.

Stokols

(2017, June 2). Donald Trump withdraws from Paris climate deal despite allies’ opposition. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-to-exit-paris-climate-deal-officials-say-1496343854

64.

Sauerwald

(2018). Does corporate philanthropy increase firm value? The moderating role of corporate governance. Business & Society, 57, 599-639.

65.

Terkel

(2015, March 30). GOP mayor of Indianapolis signs executive order protecting LGBT community. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/30/greg-ballard_n_6972928.html

66.

Vergne

J. P.

Wernicke

Brenner

(2018). Signal incongruence and its consequences: A study of media disapproval and CEO overcompensation. Organization Science, 29, 755-774.

67.

Waldman

D. A.

Yammarino

F. J.

(1999). CEO charismatic leadership: Levels-of-management and levels-of-analysis effects. Academy of Management Review, 24, 266-285.

68.

Westphal

J. D.

Deephouse

D. L.

(2011). Avoiding bad press: Interpersonal influence in relations between CEOs and journalists and the consequences for press reporting about firms and their leadership. Organization Science, 22, 1061-1086.

69.

World Economic Forum. (2015, November 23). Open letter from CEOs to world leaders urging climate action. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/11/open-letter-from-ceos-to-world-leaders-urging-climate-action/

Assessing the Impact of CEO Activism

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References