The NBA’s Black Lives Matter activism did not lead to fewer viewers, but negative tweets may have affected ratings

Does activism impact consumer behavior? In new research, Matteo Pazzona and Nicola Spagnolo, examined whether the involvement of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the Black Lives Matter movement was harmful to TV audience ratings. They find that for the NBA, activism was not costly in terms of TV viewership, at least in the short term. They also find that social media supporting (or opposing) such activism can also have an impact on viewers and ratings.