The article aims to analyze the cause–effect relationship between Brand Ethicality Perception (CPE), legitimacy and purchase intention during the COVID-19 first wave, taking into consideration the mediation effect of the country of residence. Data collection was based on a survey launched during the COVID-19 lockdown in Madrid and New York. To analyze the established hypotheses and to test the multigroup analysis, we applied a structural modelling with SmartPLS. The research contributes to the field of brand management, and specifically of ethical branding, since it will analyze how stakeholders’ expectations fulfillment is key to build a consistent and valued brand meaning in crisis’ situations, demonstrating that ethical behaviors are key for gaining corporate legitimacy and, therefore, for improving business performances.

本文旨在分析COVID-19第一波期间品牌道德观念（CPE），合法性和购买意愿之间的因果关系，同时考虑居住国的调解效果。数据收集基于在马德里和纽约的COVID-19封锁期间启动的一项调查。为了分析已建立的假设并测试多组分析，我们使用了SmartPLS进行结构建模。该研究有助于品牌管理领域，尤其是道德品牌塑造领域，因为它将分析利益相关者的期望实现如何在危机情况下建立一致且有价值的品牌含义的关键，证明道德行为是获得公司合法性的关键因此，用于改善业务绩效。