Conceptualising Brand Purpose as a Multidimensional Marketing and Management Construct: A Qualitative Framework
This study employs a multi-phase qualitative approach involving literature review and expert consultation to develop and refine a preliminary multidimensional framework of brand purpose, identifying eleven distinct dimensions that capture both internal organizational manifestations and external stakeholder experiences to advance construct clarity and future scale development.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
In the modern marketplace, a company is no longer judged solely by the quality of its products or the size of its profits. Consumers and communities increasingly expect businesses to have a reason for existing that goes beyond the bottom line. This expectation has given rise to the concept of "brand purpose," a term used to describe a company's core mission to create positive value for society, the environment, and its people. While the idea of a business acting as a force for good is widely discussed, the academic and practical understanding of what this actually looks like has been fragmented. Scholars and managers have struggled to define the specific ingredients that make up a genuine purpose, often treating it as a vague slogan or a single marketing campaign rather than a complex, living system. Without a clear definition, it is difficult to measure whether a brand is truly living up to its ideals or merely pretending to do so.
To address this confusion, researchers David Campbell and Ritika Bhatia set out to map the territory of brand purpose. They did not rely on a single survey or a statistical model alone. Instead, they built a framework by first gathering every existing idea about brand purpose from academic literature and then bringing those ideas to a group of experts for a rigorous reality check. The team assembled a panel of fifteen experts, a mix of university researchers and senior business practitioners from fields like marketing, corporate social responsibility, and consulting. These experts were asked to look at the scattered concepts in the literature and determine which ones truly captured the essence of a brand's purpose. Through a process of discussion, debate, and careful refinement, the researchers and the experts worked together to distill the concept down to its most essential parts.
The result of this collaboration is a new way of seeing brand purpose not as a single trait, but as a structure made of eleven distinct dimensions. These dimensions reveal that a true purpose must exist on two levels: it must be deeply embedded inside the organization's daily operations and strategy, and it must be felt and experienced by the people outside the company. The first dimension identified is a "beyond-profit orientation," which means the brand's reason for being is not just to make money, but to create a beneficial impact on society or the environment. This does not mean profit is unimportant; rather, profit is seen as the fuel that allows the brand to sustain its positive impact. Closely tied to this is "enduring commitment," the idea that a real purpose is a long-term promise that survives budget cuts, leadership changes, and difficult market conditions, rather than a short-lived campaign.
For a purpose to be credible, it must be woven into the very fabric of the company. The researchers call this "integrated values," where the brand's mission influences everything from how employees are hired and trained to how products are sourced and sold. This internal consistency leads to the fourth dimension, "genuine action and authenticity." Experts emphasized that stakeholders no longer trust claims without proof; they look for evidence that a brand's actions match its words, even when it is costly or inconvenient to do so. This authenticity is built on transparency and a willingness to sacrifice short-term gains to uphold long-term values.
The framework also highlights how a brand interacts with the people it serves. "Stakeholder nurturing" describes the intentional effort to balance value creation for all groups—employees, customers, investors, and communities—ensuring that no single group is sacrificed for the sake of another. This extends to "consumer empowerment," where brands provide tools and opportunities for individuals to act on their own values through the company. Furthermore, a brand's purpose is validated by its ability to create real change, a dimension called "transformation of practices." This moves beyond good intentions to show measurable improvements in social behaviors, community outcomes, or organizational systems.
Environmental responsibility is given its own distinct space as "sustainability stewardship," where the brand explicitly aligns its operations with recognized sustainability goals and integrates environmental care into every step of its value chain. The researchers also found that purpose cannot be a one-way broadcast; it requires "dialogue and involvement," meaning the brand must listen to its stakeholders and allow them to co-create solutions and initiatives. Finally, the framework captures the intangible but powerful effects of purpose through "brand-purpose equity roles" and "emotional and inspirational value." These dimensions describe how a genuine purpose builds trust, loyalty, and a sense of pride, turning customers into advocates who feel a deep emotional connection to the brand.
The study concludes that while this eleven-part framework offers a clear roadmap for understanding brand purpose, it is a starting point rather than a finished product. The researchers stress that these dimensions and the specific questions they developed to measure them are based on expert consensus and literature, but they have not yet been tested with large-scale data to prove they work in every industry. The paper explicitly rules out the idea that brand purpose is a single, simple concept or a marketing trick; instead, it presents it as a complex, multidimensional reality that requires consistent action and deep alignment. By providing this structured view, the researchers hope to help companies move beyond vague slogans and give them a concrete way to gauge whether their purpose is deep-seated and legitimate, or merely a surface-level display.
Drowning in papers in your field?
Get daily digests of the most novel papers matching your research keywords — with technical summaries, in your language.