How Does Social Media Activism Affect The Bottom Line?

Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - 5:37pm
Updated: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - 5:41pm
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Fox News Host Laura Ingraham returned to her show this last week, but the number of companies pulling their ad dollars from her program continues, even after her brief hiatus.

The exodus of advertisers began after Ingraham verbally attacked high-schooler David Hogg, who has emerged as a strident anti-gun activist in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. She mocked him on Twitter for not getting into some colleges, which was when Hogg turned around and used his social media power to hit her where it hurts: her advertisers.

He tweeted a list of her sponsors—12 companies—and told his followers to contact them. Since then, more than two dozen have pulled support from her program.

How does the social media savviness these young people display affect the bottom line?

Jonah Berger is an associate professor of Marketing at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and is the author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On. He joined The Show to talk about how young people use social media to strengthen their activism as well as his reaction to what’s happening on Laura Ingraham’s show.

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