Browsing by Author "Mei, Silas"
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- The impact of acquisitions of small social enterprises by giant multinational corporations on the consumers' brand perception of the acquired firm : the case of Ben & Jerry'sPublication . Mei, Silas; Bicho, Marta Liliana NunesThis research examines the impact of acquisitions of small social enterprises by giant multinational corporations on the consumers' brand perception of the acquired firm. The purpose of this study is to understand how consumers' brand perception of a small social enterprise is affected when acquired by a giant multinational corporation, and to provide insights into why consumers' brand perception is affected or not. A qualitative study of the case Ben & Jerry's was conducted in the United States. Data were collected through interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Our study demonstrates that acquisitions of small social enterprises by giant multinational corporations may have a negative effect on the consumers' brand perception of the acquired firm. More specifically, we argue that this negative effect may be reflected in the way consumers perceive the brand of the social enterprise when acquired by a multinational corporation: as just one of many brands under the umbrella of the multinational corporation, as one that is going to lose its social commitment, as one that is going to lose its localness, and as one that has sold out. However, our findings suggest that pre-deal commitments may mitigate this effect. Finally, our findings suggest that this negative effect may be due to consumers' negative perception of multinational corporations. Our findings further suggest that this negative perception of multinational corporations might be explained not only by the distinctive nature of multinational corporations, but also by experiences consumers had with multinational corporations when it came to acquisitions in general.