A Moderated Mediation Model of Moral Reasoning Strategies and Political Ideology: Brand Activism Context

This study examines how moral rationalization and moral decoupling mediate consumers’ intentions to support and purchase brands engaged in political or social activism, and how political ideology moderates the relationship between attitudes and moral reasoning. Data collected from a U.S. Amazon M-Turk panel (n = 311) indicate that positive brand attitudes significantly influence both moral rationalization and moral decoupling. Moral rationalization enhances consumers’ intentions to support and purchase the brand, whereas moral decoupling reduces them. These findings suggest that when brands take a political stance, maintaining favorable consumer attitudes through superior product quality and service is crucial for sustaining support. The study further demonstrates that moral decoupling may have different effects across product categories, providing a novel contribution to the understanding of consumer responses in brand activism contexts.