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The give and take of cause-related marketing: purchasing cause-related products licenses consumer indulgence

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Abstract

Cause-related marketing (CM) is the creation of a mutually beneficial relationship between a company and a nonprofit organization, with the dual objectives of boosting profit for the company and promoting the cause of the nonprofit. The present research demonstrates that mere exposure to CM evokes in consumers a desire to be prosocial and reduces the likelihood of self-indulgent choices. However, the act of purchasing CM products may provide consumers with a “warm glow” feeling from being prosocial. This feeling of a warm glow licenses subsequent self-indulgent behaviors, especially when the product with a cause is hedonic (vs. utilitarian) in nature. We further find that when the warm glow feeling is misattributed to something else (e.g., weather), the licensing effect is reduced. By distinguishing between the pre- and post-purchase effects of cause-related products, this research offers practical insights to managers on how to design and execute CM strategies.

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Notes

  1. Results for the alternative mediator analyses are available from the authors upon request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the editor, associate editor(s), and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive input and guidance. Special thanks go to Aparna Labroo and Angela Lee for their helpful comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript. Research funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan was granted to the first author (MOST103-2628-H-110-001-).

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  1. Chun-Tuan Chang and Xing-Yu (Marcos) Chu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Management, National Sun Yat-sen University, No.70 Lien-Hai Road, 804, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Chun-Tuan Chang

  2. School of Business, Nanjing University, AnZhong Building, No. 16 Jinyin Street, Gulou Area, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210093, China

    Xing-Yu (Marcos) Chu

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Chang, CT., Chu, XY.(. The give and take of cause-related marketing: purchasing cause-related products licenses consumer indulgence. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 48, 203–221 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-019-00675-5

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