Conference theme
As the world faces increasing societal and environmental challenges, stakeholders have raised their expectations for the conduct and integrity of organizations and their brands (Salzer-Mörling and Strannegård 2007; Bhagwat et al., 2020; Hambrick and Wowak 2019; Sarkar and Kotler 2020). It is no longer enough for brands to merely acknowledge the problems facing the world, stakeholders now believe that brands should actively contribute to solving these problems by improving the quality of life and addressing environmental issues (Ramaswamy & Ozcan, 2016).
The sustainability agenda, which balances the needs of people, planet and profit, is rapidly becoming a requirement simply to operate. This means more than simply telling positive stories. It concerns a brand's willingness to embed conscience into its actions and to shift to a broader focus on creating value. This is the arena of conscientious brands, which suggests that brands, like people, can have moral agency and can choose to act in ways that make a positive contribution to the world (Iglesias & Ind, 2016, 2020; Ind & Horlings, 2016). Such brands are built on their willingness to think issues through critically from the perspective of all stakeholders and to work together to deliver transformative change (Ind & Iglesias, 2022). Conscientious brands encompasses a moral orientation that can integrate concepts such as sustainability, diversity, inclusion and equality as deliberative acts.
The concept of conscientious brands was first introduced in the Journal of Brand Management Special Issue in 2011 edited by Nicholas Ind and Ian Ryder (Ind & Ryder, 2011). Whilst concepts such as corporate social responsibility and sustainability are more frequently discussed in the context of brand management, recently there has been renewed interest in the idea of conscientious brands. This is evident in recent publications on the topic focusing on conscientious corporate brand co-creation (Iglesias et al., 2023; Iglesias & Ind, 2020; Vallaster & Lechner, 2022) and on conscientious B2B brands (Beitelspacher & Getchell, 2023; Keränen et al., 2023; Abratt & Kleyn, 2023). This renewed interest can be related to the results of the changes in stakeholder attitudes and behaviour.
Stakeholders have growing expectations of brands and in turn brands have become more willing to associate themselves with social-political activist ideology and activities (Schmidt et al., 2021) such as Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Pride and School Strike for Climates. However, the question remains as to whether intentions and actions are genuine. Are brands acting on their conscience to transform the world to be a better place, or are they jumping on a bandwagon to create positive brand associations? Furthermore, from the brand practitioner's perspective, further discussions are needed as to whether, and how, embedding conscience in the brand’s principles and actions could benefit their organisations and stakeholders.
To address the increasing interest in the arena of conscientious brands and contribute to the existing discussions on conscientious brands, the theme of the 17th Global Brand Conference is:
Conscientious Brands: Making Sustainability and Responsibility Work.
We invite original research and in-depth conceptual papers on the conference theme, as well as research in the areas of brand, identity and reputation, including but not limited to:
- B2B Brands
- Big Data Analytics and Brands
- Brand Activism
- Brand Co-Creation
- Brand Equity
- Brand Experience
- Brand Image and Identity
- Brand Love, Hate, and Brand Polarization
- Brand Orientation
- Corporate and Umbrella Brands
- Ethical, Charity, and Green Brands
- Heritage Brands
- Internal Branding
- Multisensory Branding
- Online/Digital Brands
- Place and Event Branding
- Product Branding
- Service Brands
- Corporate Reputation and identity issues
Journal special issue
The best papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in the Journal of Brand Management Special Issue “Conscientious Brands: Making Sustainability and Responsibility Work”.
Download the Call for Papers Journal of Brand Management Special Issue.
Conference key dates
Submissions open: 7 August 2023
Submissions deadline: 6 November 2023 (extended to 15 November 2023)
Announcement of decision: 18 December 2023
Submissions of revised paper summary: 16 February 2024
(250 words to be published in the conference proceeding)
Contact us
For further information about the conference please contact:gbc2024@napier.ac.uk
Submit your paper
Please click here to submit your paper.
Submission Guidelines
Authors wishing to present a competitive paper are invited to submit an extended abstract by 6 November 2023. The submission link will be open on 7 August 2023.
All papers will be double-blind reviewed, so authors should not be identified within the text. If the paper is accepted for the conference, the authors will have the opportunity to revise their paper based on reviewer feedback.
The extended abstract should be between 1,400–1,700 words (and should follow the following structure:
- Title, and Keywords (3–5)
- Purpose
- Methodology/Approach
- Findings
- Theoretical Implications
- Practical Implications (if applicable)
- Originality/Value
- List of references
A summary of research (250 words) will also be requested during the submission. If the extended abstract is accepted for a presentation at the conference, this summary will be published in the conference proceeding.
If your submission is a working paper, please indicate this in the relevant section (e.g., Findings) and provide as much detail/discussion as possible for the other sections.
Please respect the following formatting details:
File Naming: The files must contain the last name of the submitting author, the abstract’s title (up to first five words), and the date of submission.
- Example: Author_document_title_day_month_year
- Margins: Normal
- Font Type & Size: Times New Roman, 12 pt
- Line-spacing: 1.5
- File Format: MS Word (i.e. .doc, .docx) or PDF.
- References: Please follow APA system
References
References Abratt, R. and Kleyn, N. (2023), "The conscientious corporate brand: definition, operationalization and application in a B2B context", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-10-2021-0468
Beitelspacher, L., & Getchell, K. (2023). The adoption of conscientiousness in business to business relationships. Industrial Marketing Management, 109, 221–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.INDMARMAN.2023.01.006
Iglesias, O., & Ind, N. (2016). How to be a brand with a conscience. In N. Ind & S. Horlings (Eds.), Brands with a conscience (pp. 203–211). Kogan Page.
Iglesias, O., & Ind, N. (2020). Towards a theory of conscientious corporate brand co-creation: the next key challenge in brand management. Journal of Brand Management, 27(6), 710–720. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-020-00205-7
Iglesias, O., Mingione, M., Ind, N., & Markovic, S. (2023). How to build a conscientious corporate brand together with business partners: A case study of Unilever. Industrial Marketing Management, 109, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.INDMARMAN.2022.12.008
Ind, N., & Horlings, S. (2016). Brands with a conscience. Kogan Page.
Ind, N., & Iglesias, O. (2022). In good conscience: Do the right thing while building a profitable business. Palgrave Macmillan.
Ind, N., & Ryder, I. (2011). Conscientious Brands Editorial [Article]. The Journal of Brand Management, 18(9), 635–638. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2011.16
Keränen, A., Malmi, K., Nätti, S., & Ulkuniemi, P. (2023). Developing identity of conscientious business-to-business organizations through integrative leadership. Industrial Marketing Management, 109, 188–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.INDMARMAN.2023.01.007
Ramaswamy, V., & Ozcan, K. (2016). Brand value co-creation in a digitalized world: An integrative framework and research implications. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 33(1), 93–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2015.07.001
Schmidt, H. J., Ind, N., Guzmán, F., & Kennedy, E. (2021). Sociopolitical activist brands. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 31(1), 40–55. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-03-2020-2805
Vallaster, C. & Lechner, P. (2022). Co-creation of conscientious corporate brands – facilitating societal change towards sustainability: a structured analysis. In: Markovic, S.; Gyrd-Jones, R; von Wallpch, S. & Lindgreen, A. (Eds) Research Handbook on Brand Co-creation. Elgar Edward.