The Impact of Corporate Social Advocacy

Corporate social advocacy (CSA) is when an organization takes a public stance on a controversial social or political issue. CSA goes beyond corporate social responsibility and philanthropic efforts by taking a public stance for or against particular issues that are not necessarily relevant to the organization. Companies often advocate for social, political or environmental issues that align with the company's values and stakeholders' expectations. From a public relations standpoint, this also reinforces the brand identity.

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Impact of CSA

While the intention behind corporate social advocacy is responsibility and advocacy, it does have benefits for organizations. Corporate social advocacy has a measurable impact on organizational financial goals through consumer purchase intention (Dodd & Supa, 2014).

• This means that CSA can contribute to organizational success across financial fields, as well as in public relations and with stakeholders.

Dodd & Supa (2014) assert that purchase intent is significantly greater when organizational values and advocacy efforts are congruent with consumers' own values or attitudes. Public relations, as a boundary spanner role, is necessary for organizations to understand the attitudes of their stakeholders.

The Institute for PR argues that CSA is beneficial for organizations only if it aligns with their corporate identity, brand and values (Dhanesh, 2025). This is important because engagement with any controversial social or political issue is going to be polarizing and face backlash from some groups. If the brand stands by what they advocate for, they are more likely to be perceived as authentic by important stakeholders.

• Effective CSA requires alignment between what a brand says and what it does, which shows that advocacy is backed by internal choices (Dhanesh, 2025).

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Ben & Jerry's and CSA

Ben & Jerry's, a popular ice cream brand, is known for blending activism with business, using the company's platform to advocate for social issues.

"Come for the ice cream, stay for the activism" (Hicks, 2025).

Ben & Jerry's has always practiced corporate social advocacy and speaking out about social and political issues. Furthermore, the CSA efforts are deeply tied to its corporate mission of advancing social justice and equity. When Ben & Jerry's aligns its public stances with its established mission, it helps to legitimize that organizational behavior and how it fits within societal and stakeholder beliefs (Dodd & Supa, 2014).

According to Marketing Brew, Ben and Jerry's has been under pressure from its parent company, Unilever, to stop participating in CSA (Hicks, 2025). Unilever removed David Stever as CEO because of his commitment to Ben & Jerry’s social mission (Hicks, 2025). Even amid the pressure from Unilever, Ben & Jerry's is still committed to CSA, posting about today's political climate and advocating for social issues on its website.

• Despite the internal backlash, Hicks (2025) notes that the online response to Ben & Jerry's CSA has been overwhelmingly positive, with research finding that "people familiar with its social mission were 30% more likely to consider Ben & Jerry’s to be their favorite ice cream."

Ben & Jerry's is a great example of how CSA requires courage, consistency and alignment with corporate identity. Furthermore, the success of corporate social responsibility practices can lead to satisfied stakeholders, trust in the brand and increased purchase intent.

References

Ben and Jerry's. (n.d.). Our values, activism and mission. https://www.benjerry.com/values

Dhanesh, G. (2025, Jan. 14). Should companies engage in corporate social advocacy (CSA)? Institute for Public Relations. https://instituteforpr.org/should-companies-engage-in-corporate-social-advocacy-csa/

Dodd, M. D. & Supa, D. W. (2014). Conceptualizing and measuring "corporate social advocacy" communication: Examining the impact on corporate financial performance. The Public Relations Journal, 8(3), 1-23. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281005635

Hicks, K. (2025, March 20). Ben & Jerry’s isn’t backing down from its online (and offline) activism. Marketing Brew. https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2025/03/20/ben-and-jerry-s-social-strategy-brand-activism

Shin, J. & Heath, R. L. (2020). The Role of Public Relations Professionals and Leadership Challenges. Public relations theory: A skills-based and case-study approach (1^st ed.). Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.