Invited Commentary—“How Support for Black Lives Matter Impacts Consumer Responses on Social Media”

In this commentary, we focus on the racial justice movement popularly known as BlackLivesMatter (BLM). We begin our comments by briefly noting the history that led to the formation of the BLM organization and movement. This sets the stage for our comments on “How Support for Black Lives Matter Impacts Consumer Responses on Social Media”—an issue important for marketers who must evolve with an increasingly socially inspired economy. As BLM is a polarizing issue that is often misunderstood, we first note a potential internal validity issue with research on this topic. We then discuss issues specific to Blackout Tuesday, the intervention of interest in the paper. These include the comparability of the treatment and control platforms; the need for a clear baseline during this turbulent period; the possibility that the followers in the control condition were also treated; the parallel trends assumption; and the analysis and interpretation of the authors’ headline finding that firms supporting Blackout Tuesday faced a backlash in terms of a reduction in follower growth. Throughout this comment, we offer suggestions for future research that tackles the response to social-political issues like BLM.