Abstract
By maintaining ethical branding, companies will be less likely to be blacklisted or suffer financial penalties (Allard & McFerran, 2021). Besides, the more successful ethical brands the more satisfied and loyal customers are, which also leads to an enhanced corporate reputation (Wen & Song, 2017; Sudbury-Riley& Kohlbacher, 2016). In addition to its ability to enhance corporate reputation, ethical branding can also influence consumer brand choice, as well as serve as a tactical marketing strategy capable of outperforming its competitors (Shah, et. al. 2020; Voorveld, 2019; Sudbury-Riley, et al. 2016). For example; a recent study conducted in the United States indicates that significant portions of consumers select brands based on ethical considerations, as ethical practices of the brands play a significant role in their decision-making process when it comes to choosing a brand over its competitors (Touchette & Nepomuceno,2020). However, ethical branding often gets confused with other constructs such as corporate social responsibility, which further hampers its comprehension. So, the purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding theoretical foundations of the ethical branding construct by elaborating on its definition, benefits, and dimensions. A systematic review of the ethical branding literature is conducted to do so. Following established inclusion and exclusion criteria for selecting a total of 80 journal articles published from 2002 to 2022 are analysed. Seven definitions of ethical branding are found in the literature. The dimensions of ethical branding are analysed, and motivations are also clarified.
Keywords: Ethical branding, Corporate social responsibility, Systematic literature review.