Boycotting, buycotting or doing nothing : A quantitative study of corporate reputation in relation to political consumerism

BACHELOR’S DEGREE PROJECT THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15 ETCS

PROGRAM OF STUDY: Marketing Management AUTHOR: Hannah Kyller and Hedvig Thorson TUTOR: Hossain Shahriar

JÖNKÖPING May 2021

A quantitative study of corporate reputation in

relation to political consumerism

“Boycotting, buycotting or

doing nothing”

Acknowledgements

The authors of this research would like to show their fullest appreciation and gratitude towards each individual involved in the development and process for writing this thesis. We would like to thank every respondent that participated in this study as well as to our seminar group who have contributed with great insights and feedback throughout the entire process.

Furthermore, this research would not have been possible without the guidance and valuable insights from our tutor Hossain Shahriar. We want to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude towards his engagement, support, and useful advice in the development of this thesis.

Lastly, we would like to thank Anders Melander, Associate Professor of Business Administration at Jönköping University Business School, for his guidance and instructions throughout the whole writing process.

____________________________ __________________________

Bachelor Thesis Project in Business Administration

Title: “Boycotting, buycotting or doing nothing” -A quantitative study of corporate

reputation in relation to political consumerism.

Authors: H. Kyller and H. Thorson Tutor: Hossain Shahriar

Date: 2021-05-23

Key terms: Political Consumerism; Corporate Brand Reputation; Corporate Social

Responsibility; Employer Branding; Corporate Image; Corporate Crisis

Abstract

Background: In previous years, Swedish company Na-kd has been promoted in the media due

to allegations of poor working conditions. While this has potentially taken a hit on the company’s reputation, studying the relationship between corporate actions and perceptions of the public has been neglected. People engage in political consumerism to express their opinions regarding political, social, or ethical concerns, which could for example include boycotting (refusing to shop at) a specific company. Previous literature within the political consumerism and corporate brand reputation stream pays little attention to understanding the relationship between the two, which includes the impact of corporate brand reputation on political consumerism.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between political

consumerism and corporate reputation, where corporate reputation is impacted by CSR, employer branding, corporate image, and crisis exposure.

Method: This research has adopted a deductive structure and a quantitative approach where the

Na-kd case was used as a stimulus/prompt. A non-probability sampling approach was used, and primary data was collected through an online questionnaire where results were exported and analyzed in SPSS software. The methods of analysis were correlations and the sample consisted of 114 female respondents in the ages of 18-35.

Findings: To test the hypotheses Pearson’s Chi-Square test and Spearman’s rho was conducted

and calculated to test the relationship and its strength between the chosen variables. The results proved to be significant, and all five hypotheses were supported, which concludes that corporate reputation is influenced by poor CSR activities, poor employer branding, negative corporate image, and crisis exposure which in terms affects consumer purchase decisions to boycott, buycott or doing nothing.

Originality/Value: This research proves that there is a positive correlation between negative

corporate reputation and political consumerism, which contributes to the political consumerism stream within the consumer research domain as well as literature about corporate brand reputation within the field of brand marketing.

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION ... 1

2

FRAME OF REFERENCE ... 6

2.1 Method for Frame of Reference ... 6

2.2 Political Consumerism ... 7

2.2.1 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ... 8

2.3 Corporate Reputation ... 9

2.3.1 Corporate Identity and Corporate Image ... 11

2.3.2 Corporate Crisis Exposed in the Media ... 12

2.4 Conceptual Framework ... 13

3 METHODOLOGY & METHOD ... 15

3.1 Methodology ... 15 3.1.1 Research paradigm ... 15 3.1.2 Research approach ... 15 3.1.3 Research strategy ... 16 3.2 Method... 17 3.2.1 Data collection ... 17 3.2.2 Sampling approach ... 18 3.2.3 Pilot study ... 19 3.2.4 Survey design ... 19 3.2.5 Data analysis... 20 3.2.5.1 Measurement ... 20 3.2.5.2 Coding ... 22

3.2.5.3 Central tendency and dispersion... 23

3.2.5.4 Pearson’s Chi-Square test ... 23

3.2.5.5 Spearman’s rho ... 24

3.3 Research quality ... 25

3.3.1 Validity and Reliability ... 25

3.3.2 Ethical consideration ... 27

4 EMPIRICAL FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION ... 28

4.1 Introduction to Empirical Findings ... 28

4.2 Corporate Reputation and Consumer Purchase Decision... 28

4.3 CSR ... 31

4.4 Employer Branding ... 34

4.5 Corporate Image ... 36

4.6 Crisis Exposure... 38

4.7 Summary of Empirical Findings ... 40

5 CONCLUSIONS ... 41

6 DISCUSSION ... 43

6.1 Theoretical Contribution ... 43

6.2 Implications ... 45

6.3 Future research ... 47

References ... 48

APPENDICES ... 55

Appendix 1 - Survey items ... 55

Appendix 2 - Codebook ... 58

Appendix 3 - Reliability test ... 58

Appendix 5 - Frequency Table: Item 17a-b ... 62

1 INTRODUCTION

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First, this section presents a background regarding the Na-kd scandal as well as presenting the current state of corporate reputation and political consumerism. Then, a thorough discussion of the research problem and research purpose is presented followed by the presentation of the research question.

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1.1 Background

“Years later I still suffer from the stress and anxiety I experienced during my year at Na-kd. My mental health had to be sacrificed in order to pave the way for their success” (Pazooki, 2020). This is just one of many statements coming from previously employed at the Swedish company Na-kd. As early as 2018, a first storm hit the fashion company as Breakit’s reporter Jonas de Lange drew attention to the tough working conditions at Na-kd, where 60-hour weeks were expected even from interns (De Lange, 2018). Whereas, regular working hours in Sweden may not exceed 40 hours per week according to the working hours act (Arbetstidslagen). However, these allegations became quite quickly silenced, and it was not until the beginning of December 2020 where Na-kd faced a second wave of crisis exposed in the media by influencers as well as current and previous employees and interns for taking advantage and treating their employees extremely poorly once again (Törnwall, 2020a). It was at Rodja Pazooki’s Instagram account that large parts of the Swedish fashion industry turned their attention to where testimonies of the working conditions were published. For the Swedish company Na-kd, which has young women as its target group, this became something of a nightmare (Törnwall, 2020c). The accusations comprised everything from unpaid hours of work, discrimination and bullying in the workplace and got very much attention in social media. Furthermore, the exposition of Na-kd resulted in over 150 previous or current employees testifying about the horrible corporate culture and environment, approximately 100 individual reports to the Swedish work environment authority as well as a list comprising more than 4200 signatures, forcing a thorough inspection of the company (Pazooki, 2020). The labor law expert Lise-Lotte Argulander classifies the working conditions as undeclared work after reading an intern agreement at Na-kd (Törnwall, 2020b). As a result, many influencers took a standpoint and distanced themselves from the company, as they did not want anyone to associate them with a

company with that kind of reputation. Consequently, a large number of people started to comment on posts on Na-kd’s Instagram, claiming to send back their recent orders, degrading them and encouraging other people to boycott the company.

While this has potentially taken a hit on the company’s corporate reputation, it could also indicate that many of the stakeholders' corporate image of Na-kd was negatively influenced, and in some cases even changed. Moreover, images can be shaped but not controlled by companies and organizations due to the fact that media or other external factors can impact evaluations and impressions of the company (Barnett, Jermier & Lafferty, 2006). However, as previous research shows, ethical attitudes do not always translate directly into ethical actions (Shaw, McMaster & Newholm, 2016). In the recent scandal of the company Na-kd and in the review of political consumerism, corporate image, corporate social responsibility, corporate reputation and spread of unfavorable information in the media came to light.

According to Boström (2019) one of the most meaningful reasons people engage in political consumerism is to express their opinions regarding political, social, or ethical concerns. This could for example include boycotting (refusing to shop at) a specific company in order to influence them to change their corporate practice or policies, which in fact, often are successful as it otherwise can hurt the company’s corporate reputation significantly (2019). Although there are a lot of different factors affecting a consumer’s decision to purchase, the intention to shop varies depending on each customer's perception of value (Bartok, 2018). For example, Jankalova and Vartiak (2016), argue that “it is not enough just to be socially responsible” (p.44), and explain how every action is assessed by external groups, such as the consumers in this case. Moreover, together with this assessment, the public’s awareness of and attitude towards companies CSR performance are deeply connected to its corporate reputation (Jankalova & Vartiak, 2016). Although many companies are incorporating code of ethics and CSR activities into their business practices, unethical activities still occur and do not often go unnoticed (Creyer, 1997). Furthermore, consumer’s concerns and knowledge of unethical behavior can impair their reception of the company and result in a change of both corporate image and purchasing behavior (Shen, Wang, Lu & Shum, 2012). Additionally, Shen et al. (2012), state “consumer beliefs about a company’s practices are often based on their perceptions of the company in terms of goodwill and reputation” (p.240), which demonstrates that unethical behavior can reflect negatively on the corporate reputation.

1.2 Problem discussion

Integrating social and ethical standards has proven to be a successful business strategy (Bartok, 2018), in which “higher ethical standards lead to the perception that the company is committed to CSR” (Park, Kim & Kwong, 2017, p.11). However, it is not clear whether these ethical standards congruence between a company and its consumers. Furthermore, Huang, Yen, Liu, and Huang (2014) claim “previous studies about corporate social responsibility generally explore how corporate social responsibility affects a company's financial performance and employee behavior, and rarely explore the effect of corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior” (p.69). In regard to existing literature of corporate brand reputation, research shows the effect of environmental issues of CSR in relation to corporate reputation. Limited studies have explored the relationship, and how the involvement in environmental CSR behavior can be rewarded through consumer’s purchase decisions (Khojastehpour & Johns, 2014). However, together with the constantly changing social attitudes, researchers cannot simply look at environmental issues and other aspects need to be considered in studies of corporate brand reputation as well (Khojastehpour & Johns, 2014). Alongside CSR activities and consumers’ perception of a company’s corporate reputation, consumers also have to make an active decision whether to take an action towards an ethical dilemma or not, based on their perception and attitudes, also referred to as political consumerism. Furthermore, this enables consumers to take a stand either for or against companies’ actions, policies or behavior by voting with their wallet. Nevertheless, while previous studies within the field of corporate social responsibility and consumer behavior prove to show the effects on economy and internal behavior within the corporation (Huang et al., 2014), the effect of CSR in relation to political consumerism are not yet fully explored.

While existing research also recognizes CSR as a crucial role in establishing trust and enhancing corporate brand reputation, it does not examine the direct relationship between the two (Hur, Kim & Woo, 2014). Results provide findings regarding positive brand association and improvement of customer brand relationship. However, more insights are needed to examine the customer behavioral outcomes such as the actual purchase behavior and spread of information, such as word of mouth (Hur, et al., 2014). Furthermore, previous research has neglected the relationship between corporate actions and perception of the public, such as the spread of bad corporate reputation and internal information within the company as well as

public hostility to corporate expectations about how a company addresses issues and handles such corporate crises (Sethi, Martell & Demir, 2016).

Moreover, limited research shows how consumer purchase decisions and political consumerism is used regarding failure of such activities causing negative corporate brand reputation (Hur et al., 2014; Sethi et al., 2016). Further, Boström (2019) argued that “the strong association between brands and political consumerism warrants attention” (p.206) which this research answers by studying the relationship between political consumerism and corporate brand reputation. This can be illustrated through the recent Na-kd case. Furthermore, based on indications from news and social media, one can argue that there is a possibility consumer attitudes might have been negatively affected by the scandal. This presents an opportunity to explore whether a negative impact on corporate reputation can influence consumers’ perceptions and consumption decisions about the brand. Moreover, because little attention has been paid to understanding the relationship between political consumerism and corporate brand reputation, a research gap can be identified to investigate the impact of corporate brand reputation on political consumerism.

Hence, this research aims to contribute to the political consumerism stream in the consumer research domain as well as literature on corporate brand reputation within the field of brand marketing. In addition, this research is of academic value as it aims to advance the understanding of a consumer's perspective towards corporate brand reputation. Furthermore, research within this topic is valuable for several parties in the marketplace including both consumers and companies. It is of great interest to companies to understand potential factors to consumer resistance based on their internal operations in order to maintain both customer loyalty and good financial performance. However, it is difficult to meet each consumer’s ethical standards, but deeper insights about political consumerism in the Na-kd scandal may expose consumer attitudes and morals towards CSR, employer branding, corporate image and crisis exposure which in turn affect corporate reputation. Furthermore, it is important for companies to be aware of how internal activities may cause and harm external activities such as consumer behavior. Additionally, research within the topic can help guide consumers become more aware of the aspects of their own consumer behavior. This awareness can expose individual ethical standards and potentially guide consumers to make civilized decisions in choosing which companies to shop at.

1.3 Purpose

Previous research provides insights of how different types of corporate crises can threaten a company’s reputation, which affect the public and the brand essence (Greyser, 2009). However, little attention is paid to studying corporate brand reputation and its relation to political consumerism, particularly in the context of a scandal (Hur et al., 2014; Boström, 2019). To address the research gap, the purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between political consumerism and corporate reputation. Furthermore, as corporate reputation derives from a variety of causes (Greyser, 2009), this study will also look into the impact poor CSR behavior, poor employer branding, corporate image as well as crisis exposure have on corporate reputation.

Existing studies of corporate crises take on an analysis and interpretation based on recognized crisis situations which illustrates the significant causes of reputational trouble (Greyser, 2009; Dijkmans, Kerkhof, Buyukcan-Tetik, & Beukeboom, 2015). Therefore, this approach is used in this study to illustrate the most important elements arising in the Na-kd crisis, relating to reputation and consumption behavior. Using the Na-kd scandal as a stimulus/prompt, aids the aim of this research to explore how low levels of the important parameters of CSR, employer branding, corporate image and crisis exposure, affect corporate reputation and if this in turn affects one’s consumption decisions. Furthermore, these decisions derive from one’s own ethical, social, and policial standards and can be used as motives to make consumption decisions, such as actively resisting such brands that deviate from one’s own moral stances. Thus, the researchers address the following research question:

2 FRAME OF REFERENCE

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In this section previous literature and theories relevant to answer the research question are studied and presented. The topics covered are Political Consumerism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Reputation, Corporate Image as well as Corporate Crisis exposed in the media. Furthermore, the studied literature serves as a foundation for the hypotheses and are presented logically after each subsection. Lastly, the researchers present the conceptual framework which illustrates all the proposed hypotheses together and visualize how the factors are suggested to relate to each other as well as the two key concepts from the research question which are political consumerism and corporate reputation.

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2.1 Method for Frame of Reference

In order to present a relevant and comprehensive overview of previous literature within political consumerism and corporate reputation, the authors conducted a thorough literature search using a systematic approach. The first step into this included identifying valuable journals and databases in which Primo, Google Scholar and Scopus has been used predominantly. Within these, the researchers made searches using key words such as “political consumerism”,

“corporate reputation” and “corporate social responsibility and consumer ethics”. Based on

the first key word searches, new relevant keywords or synonyms to the initial key words could be identified. In addition to this, some literature has been identified by examining the sources used in other studies.

In order to secure high quality among the reviewed literature, the researchers prioritized using peer-reviewed literature, books or articles published in academic journals. In addition to this, the year of publication has been considered before using the information or data from literature as some data are sensitive to time. For example, literature related to social media from before year 2010 can most likely be outdated as media now compared to back then are very different. For every source meeting the authors’ requirements within quality and relevant topics a more thorough text evaluation began. This was then used to identify a research gap as well as framing the research problem and purpose. Furthermore, the literature review gave insight to the topics

under investigation and served as the foundation for developing the theoretical and conceptual framework

2.2 Political Consumerism

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of different ethical aspects of their purchase decisions as well as how their behavior can affect companies depending on their choices (Shen et al., 2012). The intentional avoidance of services or products because of ethical, social or political concerns together form a growing consumer behavior referred to as political consumerism (Trautwein & Lindenmeier, 2019). People associated with this phenomenon utilize the market as an arena for politics by either rewarding companies for favorable practices by buycotting or punishing them for unfavorable practices through boycotting (Copeland & Boulianne, 2020).

The motivators of the buying behaviors related to political consumerism are very complex and are therefore researched to a large extent to unravel new theories that can explain why consumers either buycott or boycott (Sadiku, 2017). One way that consumer behavior often is referred to as is “the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts of these activities on the consumer and society” (Stankevich, 2017, p.8). This way of describing consumer behavior can definitively guide us in the right direction toward a better understanding of the phenomenon. However, adding an aspect of morality as well as political objectives to the equation does add a certain complexity to it as it requires the consumers to reflect about their decision making more than if they for example only would consider price (Davies & Gutsche, 2018).

According to Shen et al. (2012) consumer beliefs about ethical consumption within the area of fashion are often based on their own perception of the company in terms of their reputation in the industry it operates in. Therefore, individuals must consider whether a product is acceptable or not according to their moral standards, and then based on that make the decision whether to go through with the purchase or not (Zollo, Yoon, Rialti, & Ciappei, 2018). The choice whether to buy something or not reveals that there are two important actions related to political consumerism: boycotting and buycotting. Both in which are heavily influenced by the consumers’ image and perception of a certain company (Zollo et al., 2018).

One of the most important parts in a consumer’s decision whether to boycott or buycott is their perception of a company’s goodwill and reputation (Shen et al., 2012). As consumers are getting increasingly aware of the social, ethical, and political influences of their purchases, it requires them to do more research about the company that they intend to buy from before the purchase can take place. According to a study made by Liu et al. (2020) knowledge and trust are the two most crucial aspects in ethical consumer behavior, both of which are heavily affected by a company’s corporate reputation. However, even though knowledge about and trust towards a company are influenced by their actions and transparency towards their consumers, it is the people outside of the company that actually builds their own idea and thought about the company, that talks about it to their friends, and that build the corporate reputation (Neumann, Martinez & Martinez, 2020). Therefore, it is the consumers’ individual ethical standards that form the foundation of a company’s reputation, which in turn reflects on their consumer behavior by either boycotting or buycotting or doing nothing. Due to research of the affectional factors of political consumerism and how reputation can come to influence consumer behavior towards a company, the researchers propose the following hypothesis:

H1: Corporate reputation affects consumer purchase decision (to boycott, buycott or doing nothing)

2.2.1 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Consumer resistance and boycotts towards a certain company is often a result of corporate wrongdoing as well as bad corporate social responsibility, while buycotts generally arise from companies handling the CSR in a good manner (Trautwein & Lindenmeier, 2019). Huang et al. (2014) argue that the concept of CSR is built upon the belief of many people that “the actions of corporations are closely related to society and the public and should conform to and satisfy social values and expectations'' (p.70). Therefore, it is of great importance to implement CSR activities in corporate operations to achieve good corporate reputations. Sánchez‐Torné, Morán‐Álvarez, and Pérez‐López (2020) suggest that “CSR involves two types of practices: doing good and avoiding bad” (p.2693). The success of this depends largely on the stakeholder perceptions of the company and while it is proved to be difficult to meet every stakeholder's social value and expectations, it is also of great importance “to understand how different stakeholders are impacted upon by corporate actions'' (Arslanagic-Kalajdzic & Zabkar, 2017, p.209). As CSR actions tend to lead to higher evaluations and perceptions of the total corporate image (Lee, Chang & Lee, 2017), it is also believed to play a huge role in society as a whole (Huang et al., 2014). Meaning, consumers “expect organizations to behave and act responsibly”

(Arslanagic-Kalajdzic & Zabkar, 2017, p.210), including how companies treat both internal and external groups, such as employees and customers (Huang et al., 2014). Nevertheless, companies have long been censured for irresponsible actions such as treating employees and suppliers poorly (Murphy & Schlegelmilch, 2013). And while consumers become more willing to address ethical concerns regarding company activities and behavior, unethical actions usually lead to consumer boycotts (Lin, Zeng, Wang, Zou & Ma, 2016).

While the reasons for consumer boycotts remain many and complex, the main drivers are proven to be related to corporate social responsibility and ethical judgement (Trautwein & Lindenmeier, 2019). The lack of moral and ethical standards is transferred into irresponsible behavior which often results in when companies fail to implement CSR into their business operations, and corporate social irresponsibility occurs (Alcadipani & de Oliveira Mederios, 2019). However, those companies who successfully engage in CSR activities, will not only benefit from engaged stakeholders, motivated employees and financial profits etc., but also build a good reputation (Leiva et al., 2016). Additionally, Leiva et al. (2016), argue that “looking good should be the result of acting well” (p.305), and that obtaining CSR actions can alter the way to gain corporate reputation directly and a higher economic development indirectly (Leiva et al., 2016). Additionally, CSR does not only serve as the ultimate foundation for corporate reputation building (Lee et al., 2017), it also helps companies sustain competitive advantage (Huang et al., 2014).

As people are getting increasingly aware of how their purchasing actions can affect ethical, social, and political concerns, the market is increasingly used as a way to do this. While low CSR activity can affect consumer’s perceptions, it also contributes to the evaluation of the corporate reputation. With this in mind, the researchers propose the following hypotheses:

H2: Low levels of corporate social responsibility behavior have a negative impact on corporate reputation

2.3 Corporate Reputation

In recent decades, the concept of corporate reputation has been brought into the business spotlight (Argenti & Druckenmiller, 2004) and the interest and development of corporate reputation have increased significantly (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). Furthermore, it has been valued as an intangible asset to obtain, but the definition of corporate reputation remains disputable

(Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). However, some research argues that “corporate reputation is a stakeholders’ overall evaluation of a company over time” (Gotsi & Wilson, 2001, p.6), including any form of stakeholders’ experience with the business itself, the communication and representation of the company’s actions and/or parallel to actions of the company’s competitors (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). This shows that corporate reputation is based on the interactions between the company and its stakeholders where perceptions and impressions are formed over time.

While corporate reputation is claimed to be one of the “strongest determinants of any organization’s sustainability” (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012, p.1057), it is also proved to be very difficult to manage (Argenti & Druckenmiller, 2004). Furthermore, while a good reputation is considered a strategic asset that “attracts positive stakeholder engagement” (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012, p.1057), it is also proven to be difficult to regain good corporate reputation after a setback in the reputation communications towards its stakeholders. In addition, corporate reputation is vital to sustain competitive advantage within the market, but not all companies are confident to create and maintain good corporate reputation (Dowling & Moran, 2012). Dowling and Moran (2012), propose two models to illustrate how organizations anchor their desired corporate reputation to its stakeholders. The first model, the bolt-on model, persuades its internal and external groups, such as employees and consumers, that the company is “of good character” (Dowling & Moran, 2012). This is all managed by public relations to ensure protection of the business climate, whereas the second model, built-in model proposes that “this strategy speaks louder than any public relations words about the organization’s honorable intentions'' (Dowling & Moran, 2012, p.39). Meaning, corporate reputation reflects on the organizational strategy and pinpoints its behavior for the future.

Additionally, while corporate reputation can be achieved through a lot of actions, it can also be lost by just one (Helm & Tolsdorf, 2013). Fombrun and Gardberg (2000), argues that corporate reputation consists of 6 components: emotional appeal, products and services, vision and leadership, workplace environment, social and environmental responsibility, and financial performance. Moreover, these components are based on individual standards that shape consumers’ evaluations and perception of the company and eventually contribute to and build the corporate reputation. On the other hand, it is stated that employees are the most important stakeholders (Aggerholm, Essman Andersen & Thomsen, 2011), where positive and good corporate reputation rises from (Potgieter & Doubell, 2020). This indicates the importance of

having a good workplace environment, which not only serves as one of the six components of corporate reputation, but also plays an important role in employer branding as well. Employer branding can be described as the “sum of a company’s efforts to communicate to existing and prospective staff that is a desirable place to work” (Tkalac Verčič & Sinčić Ćorić, 2018, p.446), which represents the workplace as a whole. Furthermore, the employer brand represents the company's corporate social responsibility activities and elaborate consumers’ impression and perception of companies (Tkalac Verčič & Sinčić Ćorić, 2018), which in turn also influence the corporate reputation.

Although previous studies prove the connection between corporate reputation and employer branding and its significant role in the decision making within the corporation (Tkalac Verčič & Sinčić Ćorić, 2018), many companies lack understanding of the importance between the two (Potgieter & Doubell, 2018). Additionally, Potgieter and Doubell (2020) argue that “modern day organizations are dedicated to building brands that their customers connect with, but that customers ultimately connect with people before they do with organizations” (p.110). This demonstrates the importance of employer branding and taking care of its employees, as it ultimately reflects back on its stakeholders. However, although many companies consider bad employer branding as unethical corporate behavior, it is questionable whether consumers do so as well. Creyer (1997) investigates “Do consumers’ impressions of the ethicality of a firm's behavior influence their purchase decisions?” (p.422) and reports that consumers are willing to punish unethical behavior although they may buy from an ethical firm. Meaning, while bad employer branding may negatively impact the corporate reputation of a firm, it remains unclear to what extent consumers think of it. Due to previous findings within the relationship between corporate reputation and employer branding, the researchers propose the following hypothesis:

H3: Poor employer branding have a negative impact on corporate reputation

2.3.1 Corporate Identity and Corporate Image

Prior research implies that image and identity are the two fundamental dimensions of corporate reputation, where identity consists of the perception of the internal group of the organization, such as employees and managers, holds the character of the company, and the image represents the external observations of the firm (Barnett et al., 2006). While measurements of corporate reputation call for multiple dimensions, trustworthiness is one guideline to keep a well-managed image and reputation (Leiva, Ferrero & Calderon, 2016). Additionally, Leiva et al., (2016)

argue that the key to conceptualize corporate identity is that “what we really are and what we say we are should be congruent” (p.303). Meaning, trust and consistency can serve as a mode for a good corporate image. Moreover, the image is also known to be based on an individual’s values, ideas, impressions, perceptions of the company, brand or product to which the individual interprets and relationship to it (Leiva et al., 2016). However, this is extremely individual as the image can change from person to person.

Furthermore, while stakeholders’ evaluations of a company over time represents the corporate reputation, it is also proven to be “based on a common set of organizational qualities and dimensions, largely reflecting the view that there are common norms in society that define the meaning of acceptable and desirable corporate behavior” (Puncheva-Michelotti, Vocino, Michelotti, & Gahan, 2018, p.1265). However, an acceptable and desirable corporate behavior can again differ from each consumer and depends on the individual evaluation and own meaning of impressions and feelings that the stakeholder holds of the firm. Additionally, Puncheva-Michelotti et al. (2018) suggest that “consumption is only considered as an experience and a source of information about an employer rather than an identity defining the attributes individuals value in organizations” (p.1266). Meaning, while the corporate image becomes part of corporate reputation, it also influences stakeholder decision-making processes within customer loyalty and customer behavior (Wei, Ouyang & Chen, 2017). In relation to corporate image and corporate reputation, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H4: Bad Corporate Image have a negative impact on corporate reputation

2.3.2 Corporate Crisis Exposed in the Media

According to Helm and Tolsdorf (2013), reputation is the most dependent variable affected in a corporate crisis when analyzing the relationship between corporate reputation and crisis. While corporate reputation is proved to be critical in forming stakeholder perceptions of the firm, it also shapes the responses at the beginning of a crisis which in turn can eventually come to affect a firm’s financial performance due to loss of customer loyalty (Wei et al., 2017). Helm and Tolsdorf (2013) also explain that this is due to the stakeholders’ expectations of the company or organization being affected by the crisis per se. Furthermore, when expectations turn out to be infringed on it can also result in a decrease in customer loyalty and impact customer perceptions of the firm (Helm & Tolsdorf, 2013).

Together with suddenly facing a crisis, social media have enabled the possibility of both spreading news and building relationships with external forces such as stakeholders and the public (Dijkmans et al., 2015), which allow the internet and the media to “have the power to spread unfavorable news and rumors very quickly” (Helm & Tolsdorf, 2013, p.150). Moreover, this in turn can come to affect customer loyalty and consumer behavior as both corporate reputation and stakeholder perception of the firm is influenced by negative media exposure. Dijkmans et al. (2015) also argue that as a result of companies’ growing presence in media, the perception and impressions are easily formed and shape corporate reputation. Furthermore, previous research shows that regardless of positive or negative media exposure, information spread about the company will have a significant effect on corporate reputation (Dijkmans et al., 2015). Wei et al. (2017) argue “stakeholders’ reaction to a crisis should be influenced by

their awareness, perceptions, and knowledge of a firm” (p.2105). Whereas the negative events in a corporate crisis will trigger negative media exposure and most likely not serve as favorable perceptions of the firm (Wei et al., 2017). Moreover, when analyzing the relationship between corporate reputation and crisis exposure, the researchers propose the following hypothesis:

H5: Corporate crisis exposed in the media have a negative impact on corporate reputation

2.4 Conceptual Framework

This section presents a conceptual framework that derived from the five hypotheses in this paper. Based on the reviewed literature, the researchers developed a conceptual framework to illustrate important factors suggested to affect political consumerism in relation to corporate reputation. It is important to be aware that this framework does not explain all factors that may influence a consumer’s decision to actively participate in political consumerism or not, nor does it map all the streams it can be done through. However, the incorporated factors in this framework are explained and discussed in previous chapters of this research to highlight its significance in the context of this particular study and a scandal specifically.

The reviewed literature research outlines what affects a consumer purchase decision to either boycott, buycott or doing nothing in relation to corporate reputation. Furthermore, factors derived from reputation are important components of employer branding, corporate social responsibility, corporate image and corporate crisis exposed in the media. While these indicate

a change in consumer perceptions of the corporation, the authors suggest that it also results in a negative impact on corporate reputation which in turn can come to affect consumer decisions related to political consumerism. Therefore, the conceptual framework will give an overview of how these topics can come to affect consumer behavior when being exposed to a scandal of how corporations handle internal operations. The framework is shown below in Figure 1.

3 METHODOLOGY & METHOD

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This section addresses the chosen method and research methodology, containing elements of research philosophy, research approach and research strategy. Further, a description of the methods used for data collection, sampling approach, survey design and data analysis are implemented to fulfill the purpose of study. To conclude, the quality of the research is discussed through aspects such as ethics, validity, and reliability.

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3.1 Methodology

3.1.1 Research paradigm

The research paradigm represents the philosophical structure of how a research is conducted. It outlines the nature of the study in terms of the perspective of reality and how knowledge is produced which is described through philosophical assumptions. The two most common paradigms are positivism and interpretivism and they represent two opposites on a continuum of paradigms that will lead to different types of studies (Collins & Hussey, 2014). The interpretivism philosophy argues that there is no objective reality but that social phenomenon are a result of subjective reality. On the other side of the spectrum the positivist philosophy observes the world through an objective lens based on logical interpretations. In order to explore the most relevant answers to the research question this research is based on a positivism paradigm and follows a positivist onto-epistemological assumption saying that there only is only one objective reality, and that knowledge therefore needs to come from measurable and objective evidence. Furthermore, positivists believe that occurrence of a social phenomenon derives from the relationship between different variables and that the result of a study must be external to the researchers’ beliefs in order to be considered as valid knowledge (Collins & Hussey, 2014).

3.1.2 Research approach

When conducting a research study, a suitable research approach must be chosen for the purpose of the study. According to Collis and Hussey (2014) two main approaches are considered when discussing the research design, a deductive and an inductive approach. These two approaches can be used together, however a deductive research approach follows structures where logic

moves from general to specific, whereas an inductive study is moving from specific to general (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Additionally, an inductive structure develops theories that derive from observations and analysis of collected data. In contrast, a deductive approach develops conceptual and theoretical structure that then is tested by empirical observations (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Thus, this research has adopted a deductive structure as a result of following a positivist philosophy as well as using existing frameworks that are elaborated and emerged into the proposed hypotheses in this study. Furthermore, the inception of this research process consisted of exploring gaps in existing literature, then form hypotheses derived from a conceptual framework that later was tested to answer the research question.

3.1.3 Research strategy

The nature of a study or research is generally described through the research philosophy and research approach. By describing and motivating what research philosophy and approach a study takes it shows the way in which the researchers’ intent to investigate the research topic (Collis & Hussey, 2014). As this study follows a positivist onto-epistemological philosophical belief, the authors therefore intend to use a quantitative approach where the Na-kd case will be used as a stimulus/prompt for the respondents. Furthermore, variables and the proposed hypotheses will be tested to collect primary data in order to address the research question. The method for this will be an analytical survey collecting the quantitative primary data through internet completion questionnaires to elicit responses from the consumers. Furthermore, surveys are usually related to a positivist methodology (Collis & Hussey, 2014) which is pertinent to this particular research as the survey will gather accurate information and responses that are analyzed in order to determine whether there is a relationship between the specific variables for this study.

With the aim of studying the conjunction between political consumerism and corporate reputation in the context of the Na-kd scandal, the purpose of this study intends to adopt a descriptive type of research. Collis and Hussey (2014) argue that the research purpose can be classified as descriptive or exploratory, and an analytical or predictive type of research that goes beyond the descriptive type. Moreover, a descriptive strategy is generally connected to a quantitative study, whereas an exploratory study usually relates to a qualitative study (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2016). Furthermore, the research conducted studied significant variables of corporate reputation to collect relevant information about its impact on consumer purchase

decisions to boycott, buycott or doing nothing in the context of a specific event, such as a scandal.

3.2 Method

3.2.1 Data collection

A research method is the tool a research uses to collect primary empirical data. The two most common methods associated with positivism used to collect primary data are surveys and experiments (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Experiments are commonly used to examine the causal relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable and while a well-executed experiment often generates very reliable results, it can be hard to ensure a research setting where the dependent variable is affected only by the independent variable. In addition, experiments require good timing, and that sample and nature are perfectly synchronized with the aim of the study which is why the researchers instead chose to go with a survey method which is less likely to be interrupted by those kinds of errors.

According to Saunders et al. (2016) surveys are a good tool to use in studies where the purpose is to determine whether there is a relation between multiple variables which is exactly what this research aims to do. Surveys can be conducted in many different ways such as over the phone, personal collection, face-to-face intercepts as well as online to name a few. However, all options including any kind of physical contact was immediately taken away from consideration in this research due to Covid-19 safety recommendations. While doing it over the phone might help to avoid misunderstandings by the respondent as they always are able to ask the researchers right away if they experience any trouble, internet self-completion questionnaires are the most common tool as they are often are the most convenient to receive a sufficient number of responses without being too time consuming (Collins & Hussey, 2018). In addition, questionnaires are generally in-expensive, efficient, and accurate if they are done in an appropriate way which is another reason the researchers decided to use internet self-completion questionnaires.

When using an online questionnaire as the method in a quantitative research, one should acknowledge the limitations it has too. For example, as there is no personal contact between the researcher and the respondent, reactions and possible emotions that occur while the respondents do the survey cannot be experienced. In addition, online surveys are sent out to a high number

of people, however, as not everyone participates in the survey, the response rate compared to the number of sent out links often appears quite low (Saunders et al., 2016).

3.2.2 Sampling approach

In this research the unit of analysis is consumers and as in most other studies, it was not possible to collect empirical data from the entire population. Therefore, the researchers had to determine a target population which the sample would derive from. As the study will use the Na-kd scandal as a stimulus/prompt in the questionnaire, the researchers recognized that the most appropriate sample frame would be consumers that Na-kd are targeting too. Thus, the target population for this study are women aged between 18 and 35 years old.

The two most commonly used approaches for sampling are probability sampling and non-probability sampling (Saunders et al., 2016). Probability samples are based on statistical information and the likeliness for each individual within the sample frame to be picked is known and unbiased, in contrast to this non-probability sample where the probability is not known (Saunders et al., 2016). In this research, the authors have chosen to use a non-probability sampling technique as it is considered to be most appropriate due to resource constraints as well as the voluntary participation. The non-probability sampling approach has a major drawback since it cannot be used to draw conclusions based on statistics about the complete population characteristics (Saunders et al., 2016). However, several generalizations suggesting the relationship between brand disclosures and native ad recognition ability among consumers could still be drawn despite it cannot represent the entire population on statistical grounds. The results can instead generate useful indications and act as a basis for future research where extended resources could be provided.

In a quantitative study the number of respondents should generally be as large as possible as it generates a higher level of certainty to the results. However, different types of studies require different large sample sizes in order to be considered sufficient for making a statistical analysis (Osborne & Costello, 2004). One common way of determining the satisfactory number of responses in a study is by determining it based on how large the population is, where a larger population requires a larger sample. In this particular study where it is hard to determine the exact population and when non-probability sampling is used the lowest number of respondents has instead been based on the EFA 5:1 ratio. This means that the sample size should be at least

five times the number of items in order for it to be sufficient for a statistical analysis (2004). Thus, the researchers set the number of respondents in this study to be at least 120 as it is five times the number of items in the questionnaire.

3.2.3 Pilot study

In order to ensure higher validity in the research and that the questionnaire was designed in an appropriate way to answer the research question, a pilot study was conducted. By doing a pilot study, authors were able to detect potential problems in the formulation of items, instructions, and overall clarity of the questionnaire to name a few examples. In addition, it gives the authors a hint of the duration to complete the survey (Saunders et al, 2016). The pilot study was sent out to a test group comprising a few women that otherwise also would have been able to participate as respondents as they are more likely to represent what the respondents in the real study would feel and experience. For example, it could be misleading to give out the pilot study to someone not knowing of Na-kd as many of the items are based on the assumption that the respondents are familiar with the company.

After the pilot study, the test group were asked questions about their experience and if they had any trouble understanding the survey. According to the answers received from the women, a few minor changes were made. For example, a couple of items were reformulated as some people from the pilot study felt like the researchers could use less advanced words and expressions to decrease the risk of language barrier errors occurring.

3.2.4 Survey design

The online survey was conducted in English and distributed via Qualtrics. This platform was chosen as it is easy to work with as well as gives a professional and trustworthy impression which might generate a higher response rate as well as truthful responses from the respondents. Furthermore, the authors chose to use a simple layout when designing the survey whereby the first page of the survey included an introduction page with the name of the university, a short description of the purpose of the survey as well as information regarding GDPR. Phrasing of the questions was kept as simple as possible in order to avoid issues due to language barriers. To give the respondents a better overview of the survey, the authors divided the items into multiple blocks and as one block was completed, respondents were able to see a progress bar displaying the completed percentage.

In the very first section of the questionnaire items regarding the demographics were asked which enabled the researchers to filter out respondents who did not meet the targeted group for the study and therefore led them to a termination of the survey. The filter questions asked the respondents about their gender, age and if they were familiar with the company Na-kd. By meeting the requirements, the respondents then moved on to the main part of the questionnaire.

The questionnaire was designed by dividing up each construct of the conceptual framework such as CSR, employer branding and so on into blocks, giving the survey a total of five blocks. Each block contained at least three items in order to give the researchers a sufficient amount of data related to each construct in order to be able to see correlations and draw conclusions. Furthermore, the researchers used a technique where questions moved from more general to specific in order to capture the respondents’ attention and increase their understanding for each construct.

3.2.5 Data analysis

In order to fulfil the purpose of the study it is important to use appropriate techniques and tests to analyze the recorded data from the survey. An appropriate technique is one that goes in line with both the study overall, but also with each individual construct and item in the survey. In order to succeed with this, the chosen methods of analysis are correlation, to show the relationship between the variables proposed in the hypotheses. Furthermore, the researchers have chosen to use both descriptive as well as inferential statistical analyses which will be further explained below.

3.2.5.1 Measurement

This research has adapted a six-point Likert scale, where importance, agreement and likelihood are measured. Moreover, four, five, six or seven-point rating scale are the most commonly used in rating questions or statements (Saunders et al., 2016). The majority of the measurement items are intended to collect opinions, and therefore an even number (6) is used. Furthermore, the six Likert scale is adapted from previous scales using five, six and seven-point rating scales to collect data from each block of the questionnaire. This is due to maintain consistency and prevent the respondent choosing a neutral answer, and instead “force the respondent to express their feelings towards an implicitly positive statement” (Saunders, et al., 2016, p. 410).

Moreover, previous literature presents relevant studies and scale of measurement, which is generalized and adapted in this research model. The measurement items within each block of the study come from well-established questionnaires used in previous studies to maintain validity. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) construct is measured through four items, using adapted scales from Pomering and Dolnicar (2009) rating importance from 1=Extremely

important to 6=Not important at all, and agreement from 1=Strongly agree to 6=Strongly disagree. Pomering and Dolnicar (2009) investigated ten different blocks on a seven-point Likert scale, whereas one block regarding CSR was used and other blocks were discarded due to measuring irrelevant parameters for this particular study. Additionally, the scale is adapted into a six-point Likert scale to maintain uniformity in the study.

Furthermore, the employer branding construct explores the importance of different working conditions and is measured both as a six-item construct, as used in Pérez and Rodríguez del Bosque (2013) in a scale from 1=Extremely important to 6=Not at all important, as well as established scales from Mohr and Webb (2005) and Salmones, Crespo, and Bosque (2005) where the scale of 1=Extremely likely and 6=Extremely unlikely is used. Pérez and Rodríguez del Bosque (2013) measure items within employer branding and CSR, however the study also investigated CSR in relation to supervision boards and how companies treated their customers which is not of relevance for the purpose of this study and therefore was discarded. Salmones et al. (2005) on the other hand measures three blocks regarding CSR, service, and loyalty, where items regarding CSR and loyalty such as commitment and behavior towards a brand are used. However, items regarding service are discarded due to its relevance of measuring importance of price and quality of a product which does not serve the purpose of this study. In addition, Mohr and Webb (2005) presents 32 items in total but only items regarding purchasing behavior were adapted both for the construct of employer branding and the construct of corporate image. Moreover, items regarding philanthropy and environmental issues within that scale were treated as irrelevant for this study and were therefore discarded. Again, these three studies are measured on a seven-point Likert scale but are adapted to a six-point scale to maintain uniformity.

Furthermore, corporate image is measured, again through Mohr and Webb (2005) and Pomering and Dolnicar (2009). Additionally, corporate image regarding the company Na-kd is also measured as a three-item construct using rating statements from Marin and Ruiz (2006). Marin and Ruiz (2006) are using a six-point Likert scale which supports the uniformity of this study.

The study measures blocks within corporate ability, CSR, CSR support, company evaluation and identity attractiveness where three items from company evaluation are used. The other blocks from Marin and Ruiz (2006) are discarded due to its focus on branding, instead scales from Mohr and Webb (2005) and Pomering and Dolnicar (2009) are used to provide a more detailed measurement of corporate image. Whether the corporate image changes in the exposure of a scandal to the public, is measured on a seven-point Likert scale from both Salmones, Crespo and Bosque (2005) and Dawar and Pillutla (2000), but again adapted to a six-point scale to maintain uniformity. While Salmones, Crespo and Bosque (2005) measure items regarding behavior in this construct, items used from Dawar and Pillutla (2000) measure consumer perception of crisis and items investigating brand equity are discarded due to its irrelevance for the purpose of this study. The respondents are also given a chance to specify answers related to whether an action was taken after hearing about the Na-kd scandal in December 2020. Lastly, corporate reputation and one’s purchasing behavior is measured as a six-item construct adapted 2 items from both Pomering and Dolnicar (2009) and Dawar and Pillutla (2000). All of the following items can be found in Appendix 1.

3.2.5.2 Coding

The collected data from the questionnaire in Qualtrics were exported and analyzed in the SPSS Statistics software. Furthermore, SPSS is commonly used to analyze data from business surveys and can process large quantities of data (Collis & Hussey, 2014). The questionnaire contained responses regarding importance, likelihood, and agreement whereas the importance was able to be precoded in a scale ranging from 1=Extremely important and 6=Not at all important. Pre-coding makes data entry easier, and most items and variables were able to be coded and labeled in Qualtrics. Nevertheless, a codebook was also created to establish a coding scheme and keep record of all of the questions prior to implementing the data into SPSS. Moreover, the codebook helped to aggregate responses and data obtained from the survey in a way that the software understands, such as labelling the variables and assigning numbers for each response. Since the questionnaire adapted a six Likert scale, the variables were measured in a scale of 1-6. Furthermore, the filter question regarding gender is coded 1=Male, 2=Female, 3=Other/Prefer

not to say and the questions with responses Yes or No are transferred into Yes=1 and No=2.

For the open question item in the questionnaire, where the answer had to be specified, coding was done after collecting the data. This was done in order to have all the responses collected, and then using tallies to count the frequency of each answer. A tally is one way to count the

occurrence of a response, such as value or category in order to help count the frequency of that variable (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Moreover, this helped in coding the responses in themes after collecting the data. The six themes were then summarized in a table displaying their occurrences and percentage of the total number of people taking action towards the Na-kd scandal. The codebook can be found in Appendix 2.

3.2.5.3 Central tendency and dispersion

One of the most foundational ways of analyzing data is by using central tendency measures as well as dispersion. These statistics enable the researcher to describe and compare variables from a large set of data. Saunders et al. (2016) state, “When describing data for both samples and populations quantitatively it is usual to provide some general impressions of values that could be seen as common, middling or average” (p. 475). These are measured by central tendencies in values of mode, median and mean, whereas mode represents the value occurring most frequently, the median represents the middle value of each value measured, and the mean is the average calculations of all data collected. Furthermore, the mean is considered to be the foundation for examining the relationships between two variables in statistical tests.

Dispersion on the other hand describes the spread of values around the central tendency and is mainly done using the range and the standard deviation (Saunders et al., 2016). Moreover, the dispersion range represents the difference of minimum and maximum value whereas the standard deviation represents the difference between the mean and the data value collected. If the data is well represented by the mean, there is a small standard deviation. In contrast, if there is a large standard deviation to the mean, the mean does not represent data well and values are scattered (Collis & Hussey, 2014).

However, even though dispersion measures and measurement of central tendencies are suitable for data in numerical scales, most statistical softwares will consider categorical data in its calculations if numerical codes are used (Saunders et al., 2016).

3.2.5.4 Pearson’s Chi-Square test

In addition to looking into central tendency measures, the researchers conducted multiple Pearson’s Chi-Square tests. This test is used to explore the relationship between two categorical

variables or items consisting of at least two values Saunders et al., 2016). As all hypotheses in this research aim to explore relationships, the Chi-Square tests have been used to test and analyze them all together with other analyses and measures.

As a part of conducting a Chi-Square test, a crosstabulation table is done too. The table presents the number of respondents to each response alternative. This gives a good visualization of patterns in responses whereas Pearson's Chi-Square presents this as a number. The number presented in the Chi-Square test indicates how likely it is that the two variables tested are related, however, it becomes interesting to analyze first when combining it with the degrees of freedom. Together, these two variables form the asymptotic significance value. Furthermore, the asymptotic significance value can be described as a type of probability value and therefore can tell us whether to reject the null hypothesis or not. In this research the chosen significance level is 0.05 which means that an asymptotic significance value lower than 0.05 indicates that the null hypothesis should be rejected. Another thing that is important to acknowledge in the interpretation of a Chi-Square test is the degrees of freedom. The number describes how many categorical values in a two-way table can vary, given the constraints of the totals in all rows and columns. Furthermore, this indicates the ability to generalize the result where a higher number of degrees of freedom means a higher generalizability to the findings (Saunders et al., 2016).

3.2.5.5 Spearman’s rho

While the Pearson’s Chi-Square test explored the relationship between two variables, the researchers had to consider the strength of these relationships as well. Furthermore, to assess the strength of relationship between two categorical variables in a ranked scale Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (Spearman’s rho) can be used. Spearman’s rho is of significance when using ranked data which relates to this research. Moreover, the correlation coefficients are measured in a scale of values from -1 to +1, where the value of 0 represents perfectly independent variables (Saunders et al., 2016). The value of +1 indicates a perfect positive association, where the two variables measured are related in a sense if one variable increases, the other variable will also increase. Contrary, the value of -1 indicates a perfect negative association, where the two variables’ measures are related in a sense if one variable increases, the other variable will decrease. In this way Spearman’s rho is used to determine what impact

one variable has on the other one, as well which direction the relationship is headed.

In addition, Saunders et al. (2016), argue that data collected from a sample also need to calculate the probability of having the correlation occur by chance alone. If the probability value is below 0.05, the correlation is considered to be statistically significant and referred to reject the null hypothesis. Moreover, this value indicates that the correlation coefficient is valid to be used to assess the strength of the relationship for the research.

3.3 Research quality

3.3.1 Validity and Reliability

To ensure research quality and present credible research findings, two key aspects are discussed: validity and reliability. While reliability does not play a significant role in an interpretivist study, it tends to be rather high in a positivist one (Collis & Hussey, 2014). Furthermore, reliability refers to the precise and accurate measures of your empirical data together with consistent and reliable results (Collis & Hussey, 2014). The initial step to a reliable study is to use transparent methods and techniques throughout the research process (Saunders et al., 2016). Moreover, this study was conducted by two researchers, which allows more than one perspective to be taken into account and avoids individual bias in the prior and ongoing reasoning of the research. Additionally, a pilot study was conducted to gain further perspective and insight on the survey to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the survey design. Furthermore, the established scales of measurement conducted by previous researchers that are used to adapt the questionnaire items, further ensure validity and reliability to the research. Saunders et al., (2016) argue that the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data should include consistency to further ensure reliability. Throughout the work, the researchers have implemented a consistent structure by collaborative work and making mutual decisions to avoid distinctions which further reinforce a reliable study.

To demonstrate another reliability parameter, reliability was checked for the scales in the collection of data using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Cronbach’s alpha is widely used to evaluate the items on the measurement scale and provides a coefficient with a value between 0 and 1. A value above 0.7 is considered to ensure internal reliability and consistency, where each item is related to the construct of the survey (Collis & Hussey, 2014). First, the adapted scales