#4623. ‘I’ll stand by you:’ understanding customers’ moral decoupling processes and supportive behavioral intentions in cases of corporate misconduct

August 2026publication date
Proposal available till 20-05-2025
4 total number of authors per manuscript0 $

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Journal’s subject area:
Business and International Management;
Marketing;
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Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamics behind consumers’ intention to support a transgressor brand in the form of boycott behavior. To do so, this study investigated the relationships between the concepts of brand identity fusion, brand immunity, moral decoupling, and boycott intention. An online survey (N = 525) was conducted among a nationally representative sample in October 20XX. The results revealed that consumers who report identity fusion with a brand also report being immune to brand transgressions and engage in a moral decoupling process to justify their continued relationship with the brand. Such consumers separate their judgment of brand performance from judgment of brand morality. As the transgression does not change those consumers’ general view of the brand, they are willing to support brand by engaging in boycott behavior. The theoretical and practical implications of this work are discussed.
Keywords:
boycott intention; Brand identity fusion; brand immunity; brand transgression; moral decoupling

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