Reconceptualizing Brand Safety in Digital Environments: A Multidimensional Framework

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.

brand safety; digital platforms; content moderation; algorithmic curation; platform governance; digital advertising

1. Bernritter, S.F., Verlegh, P.W.J. and Smit, E.G. (2025) ‘Brand safety in online gaming environments: How in-game context affects brand evaluations’, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 42(1), pp. 1–17. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Brown, G. (2019) ‘Brand safety and brand suitability: Managing contextual risks in digital advertising’, Journal of Advertising Research, 59(4), pp. 407–415. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Campbell, C., Sands, S. and Ferraro, R. (2022) ‘From data to deception: Artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and the erosion of trust in digital advertising’, Journal of Advertising, 51(4), pp. 493–509. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Grewal, D., Stephen, A.T. and Vana, P. (2025) ‘Understanding trust and risk in platform-based marketing ecosystems’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 53(1), pp. 27–49. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Janssen, L., Schouten, A.P. and Croes, E.A.J. (2023) ‘Brand safety concerns in user-generated content environments: Context effects on brand responses’, International Journal of Advertising, 42(2), pp. 256–279. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Johnson, A.R., Voorhees, C.M. and Khodakarami, F. (2023) ‘Algorithm aversion or appreciation? The role of automated decision-making in digital marketing’, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 62, pp. 1–16. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Kellogg, K.C., Valentine, M.A. and Christin, A. (2020) ‘Algorithms at work: The new contested terrain of control’, Academy of Management Annals, 14(1), pp. 366–410. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Liang, Y., Xiong, G., Liu, Y. and Zhao, H. (2024) ‘Ad fraud in programmatic advertising ecosystems: Mechanisms, consequences, and governance’, Journal of Advertising, 53(1), pp. 77–95. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Roberts, S.T. (2019) ‘Behind the screen: Content moderation in the shadows of social media’, New Media & Society, 21(7), pp. 1503–1521. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Shehu, E., Abou Nabout, N. and Clement, M. (2020) ‘Programmatic advertising: Advertising quality in the digital age’, Journal of Advertising, 49(1), pp. 10–26. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Alvesson, M. and Sandberg, J. (2011) ‘Generating research questions through problematization’, Academy of Management Review, 36(2), pp. 247–271. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Bol, N., Dienlin, T., Kruikemeier, S., Sax, M., Boerman, S.C. and de Vreese, C.H. (2020) ‘Understanding the effects of platform algorithms on user exposure to information’, Journal of Communication, 70(1), pp. 1–26. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Eslami, M., Vaccaro, K., Lee, M.K., Elazari Bar On, A., Gilbert, E. and Karahalios, K. (2018) ‘Algorithmic awareness in social media’, CHI Conference Proceedings, 2018, pp. 1–12. (peer-reviewed proceedings, commonly accepted dalam problematising algorithmic governance) [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Flew, T., Martin, F. and Suzor, N. (2019) ‘Internet regulation as media policy: Rethinking the question of digital communication platform governance’, Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 33(6), pp. 1–15. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Napoli, P.M. and Caplan, R. (2017) ‘Why media companies insist they’re not media companies, why they’re wrong, and why it matters’, First Amendment Studies, 51(2), pp. 1–20. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Roberts, S.T., Ringel Morris, M. and Swartout, W. (2019) ‘Social media moderation as an informed, socially situated practice’, Proceedings of the ACM on Human–Computer Interaction, 3(CSCW), pp. 1–23. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Sundar, S.S. and Nass, C. (2001) ‘Conceptualizing sources in online news’, Journal of Communication, 51(1), pp. 52–72. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Tufekci, Z. (2015) ‘Algorithmic harms beyond Facebook and Google: Emergent challenges of computational agency’, Colorado Technology Law Journal, 13(2), pp. 203–218. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. van Dijck, J., Poell, T. and de Waal, M. (2018) ‘The platform society: Public values in a connective world’, Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Gorwa, R. (2019). “The platform governance triangle: Conceptualising the informal regulation of online content.” Internet Policy Review. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Gillespie, T. (2018). Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, Content Moderation, and the Hidden Decisions That Shape Social Media. Yale University Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• A Study on Utilisation on Vidiyal Payanam with Special Reference to Udumalpet
• Influence of Sales Promotional Strategies on Water Purifier Purchase: A Study
• Voluptatem exercitat
• Beatae voluptatum eanfjnjfnjnj
• Analysis of Marketing Strategies in Newbridge College During Covid-19 Pandemic