The Black Lives Matter movement began with a tragedy. On the night of February 26, 2012, when Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American, was walking home from a convenience store, he was spotted by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Zimmerman reported Martin as suspicious and began following Martin, despite being told by a 911 dispatcher not to do so. A confrontation ensued, and Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest, resulting in Martin's death. In response to the exoneration of Zimmerman in the shooting incident that led to the death of Martin, three Black women: Patrice Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometithe, started the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013. The movement's main aim is to advocate for an end to brutality being perpetuated by the police and to end/stop racial discrimination in the United States (Banks, 2018). Performative allyship, by contrast, is where those with privilege, profess solidarity with a cause. This assumed solidarity is usually vocalized, disingenuous, and potentially harmful to marginalized groups. This current study will conduct an online survey to examine how different publics perceive the action of the performative brand Ally ship. 

Drawing upon the situational theory of public, the study aims to 

1) segment public based on their problem recognition, constraint recognition, and involvement with the racial injustice issue and 

2) examine whether there are differences in perceived authenticity and brand trust among different publics.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

The situational theory of publics is a communication theory that focuses on how different publics perceive and respond to issues based on their level ... View the full answer