As someone who values sincerity, Jessie Liu is particularly interested in how companies authentically—and inauthentically—communicate their values to consumers, and how that messaging is received.
“Increasingly, we’re seeing companies issue public statements on social media—around issues ranging from environmental sustainability to social justice to human rights—when external events occur,” says Liu, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. These firms are no doubt motivated by studies showing that the majority of consumers today make their purchasing decisions based on companies’ stated brand values, she says.
But buyer beware: “Companies can be tempted to appear authentic without genuine alignment,” says Liu. And the average consumer might not have the resources to determine whether a company’s “prosocial message” reflects its genuine values and practices or “is mere tokenism.”
Enter a third player in what Liu describes as today’s “reactive marketing ecosystem”: the “external investigator.” She explains that this independent third party, which could be a journalist, community notes poster on X, or rating agency, can potentially help consumers verify or contradict whether a firm’s statement actually aligns with its past behavior.
In a recent study, conducted with Preyas Desai of Duke University, Liu examined the complex interplay between all three players.
“What we found is that any kind of messaging strategy needs to take into account the entire, behaviorally rich ecosystem,” Liu says. “A company that genuinely cares about a cause can send a message that lands badly,” she says. Conversely, a company without a track record to support its message can succeed, with—admittedly flawed—support from an external investigator.
Finding ‘cover’ in external investigators
In their analysis, the researchers created a model to characterize factors such as the frequency with which a company chooses to send reactive messages, issued in response to natural disasters or prosocial commemorations (such as Pride Month or Earth Day). The model further analyzes cases in which there is a good fit between an outside event and the sender’s business and cases where there is a bad fit (inauthenticity).
“We also modeled an independent investigator who can verify the authenticity of a given message,” Liu notes.
The duo then developed and administered a short survey asking social media participants about their desire to support prosocial messaging and how that desire is impacted by concerns about authenticity and the impact of independent fact-checking.
Based on their overall analysis, the researchers arrived at several key insights that could prove instructive to companies crafting their communication strategies, Liu says. The central headline? Messaging that is successfully persuasive to consumers is “co-produced,” with the independent investigator playing an important role.
“Think about a company issuing a statement that a consumer wants to believe, but they may be hesitant to buy from the firm, so they rely on the external investigator for verification,” says Liu. “But these investigators are not perfect. There are occasionally false positives in which they conclude a firm is being authentic when it isn’t.” In such cases, Liu notes, the investigator “could actually become a ‘cover’ for the company, particularly for skeptical consumers.”
She offers the example of an ESG score, a metric widely accepted by the public that is intended to measure a company’s performance, exposure, and risk management regarding environmental, social, and governance issues. Due to a lack of standardization, heavy reliance on self-reporting, and lack of auditing requirements, the ESG rating system has been criticized by some experts for being subject to manipulation. Nevertheless, says Liu, “many consumers trust the ESG rating to a very high extent. And firms can capitalize on that.”
Given the impact external investigators play in how messaging is received, Liu found that companies would do well to embrace—not chafe against—their presence in the reactive marketing ecosystem. “Rather than treat the third party investigator as an enemy or a threat, firms should attempt to work with them,” she notes. “The more credible they become for validating your message, the less work you have to do as a company.”
The researchers further concluded that when a company issues a prosocial statement matters as much as what they say. “We see a lot of companies speaking on every issue that comes along, and it can become meaningless,” Liu says. Firms are better served by being more selective in choosing to communicate on issues that truly align with their past behavior and underlying commitment. “There really is some value in sometimes staying silent,” she says.
Do your homework
What about consumers? Are there any takeaways from the study for them?
For starters, says Liu, it’s useful to recognize that companies intentionally build communications strategies aimed at capitalizing on our desire to support prosocial causes we feel passionate about. “The more deeply we care about something, the more we want to believe, the more likely we are to fall prey to that kind of messaging,” even when it’s inauthentic, says Liu.
And when it comes to determining whether a firm’s communications authentically align with their brand values, she advises avoiding an over-reliance on third-party investigators because their verification can be flawed and potentially manipulated. “That over-reliance is especially risky when we want the message to be real—when supporting the cause makes us feel like the kind of person we want to be,” Liu says.
The better course of action: Take the time to do some independent investigation, researching online to see whether the company’s actions (through hiring, financial donations, or supply chain choices) align with its stated stance on prosocial issues.
“Whether we realize it or not, as consumers we are all part of the strategic game,” says Liu, “so it’s best not to take anything at face value.”
“We see a lot of companies speaking on every issue that comes along, and it can become meaningless.”
