The impact of CEO Activism in brand reputation: the PROZIS case

the PROZIS case.

Resumo

Citizens are increasingly demanding that companies take a stand on controversial socio-political issues. But CEOs face a major dilemma, as their opinions are those of a citizen and a leader, with no clear boundaries. After posting an opinion welcoming the repeal of the law protecting the right to abortion, the CEO of Prozis created a case that dominated social media trends in Portugal for weeks. As a result, Prozis suffered numerous censorships, cancellations of contracts with influencers who didn’t want to be associated with these statements, and thousands of ordinary people who publicly declared that they would stop consuming Prozis products and unfollowed the brand on social networks. This study aims to understand Portuguese society’s perception, understanding and level of agreement with this phenomenon. Based on a quantitative approach (n=550), through an online questionnaire, this study concludes that although 69.1% of the participants disagree or strongly disagree with the statements made by the CEO of Prozis, 73.5% believe that any CEO has the right to publicly express his or her opinion. Also, more than ¾ believe that Prozis’ reputation has been affected by these statements, but more than half (51.6%) said that they have not (or would not) stop buying Prozis’ products. A significant difference was found in that only 34.7% of Baby Boomers felt they had stopped buying Prozis products, compared to 58.5% of Gen Z.