Reconceptualizing Brand Safety in Digital Environments: A Multidimensional Framework

Abstract

Brand safety is becoming a top strategic concern for both platforms and marketers due to the increased exposure of companies to risky and unpredictable situations brought about by the growing reliance on digital platforms. The conceptual fragmentation of research on brand safety among studies of advertising context, platform governance, algorithmic curation, and user-generated environments limits the building of cumulative knowledge despite increasing scholarly attention.
In this conceptual study, brand safety in digital contexts is rethought as a multifaceted, context-dependent construct that goes beyond basic content proximity. We create an integrative framework that includes actor-based risk, algorithmic risk, platform governance risk, cultural–societal risk, and content-related risk. The paradigm also emphasizes the important but little-studied function of extensive content moderation systems as a mediation factor between brand outcomes and risky digital environments.
This paper improves brand safety theory, offers direction for managerial decision-making in algorithmically controlled environments, and presents a research agenda to support future methodological and empirical research by providing conceptual clarity and an integrated framework.