IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i18p13379-d1234444.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Cause-Related Marketing: Visual Style, Self-Construal, and Consumer Responses

Author

Listed:
  • Huijian Fu

    (School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510520, China
    Laboratory of Neuromanagement and Decision Neuroscience, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510520, China)

  • Jiayu Meng

    (School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510520, China)

  • Yiman Chen

    (School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510520, China)

  • Wei Cai

    (Investment Banking Department, China Citic Bank Corporation Limited Hangzhou Branch, Hangzhou 310020, China)

  • Jinhui Lai

    (School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510520, China)

  • Haiying Ma

    (School of Internet Finance and Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou 510521, China)

Abstract

The visual presentation of cause-related marketing (CRM) messages is gaining increasing attention from researchers and practitioners. This study delves into the impact of the visual style of CRM messages on consumer responses and the moderating role of self-construal. The results demonstrate that visual style has a significant effect on consumer responses, as cause-focused messages engender a higher brand attitude and purchase intention than product-focused messages (Studies 1 and 2). Meanwhile, the effects of visual style on both consumers’ brand attitude and purchase intention are mediated by the perceived self-serving motives. Importantly, self-construal moderates the relationship between visual style and consumer responses (Study 2). Cause-focused messages lead to enhanced brand attitudes and purchase intentions than product-focused messages by reducing the perceived self-serving motives for consumers with an interdependent self-construal, although not for consumers with an independent self-construal. Grounded in these findings, the theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Huijian Fu & Jiayu Meng & Yiman Chen & Wei Cai & Jinhui Lai & Haiying Ma, 2023. "Enhancing the Effectiveness of Cause-Related Marketing: Visual Style, Self-Construal, and Consumer Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:18:p:13379-:d:1234444
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/18/13379/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/18/13379/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Taemin Kim & Jeesun Kim, 2021. "How Spatial Distance and Message Strategy in Cause-Related Marketing Ads Influence Consumers’ Ad Believability and Attitudes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Jin-Hua Yang & Fa-Yu Lei & Jin-He Zhang & Ying Song & Chang Wang, 2023. "Altruistic Motivation, Moral Elevation and Tourism Support Behavior: An Empirical Study Based on Cause-Related Marketing in Tourist Destinations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Strahilevitz, Michal & Myers, John G, 1998. "Donations to Charity as Purchase Incentives: How Well They Work May Depend on What You Are Trying to Sell," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 434-446, March.
    4. Sunhee Choi & Sangno Lee & Wesley Friske, 2018. "The Effects of Featured Advertising and Package Labeling on Sustainability of Cause-Related Marketing (CRM) Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-12, August.
    5. Yoojung Kim & Sejung Marina Choi, 2022. "When Bad Becomes Good: The Role of Congruence and Product Type in the CSR Initiatives of Stigmatized Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-16, July.
    6. Xiaojun Fan & Nianqi Deng & Yi Qian & Xuebing Dong, 2022. "Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Cause-Related Marketing: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(2), pages 339-360, January.
    7. Uta Russmann & Jakob Svensson, 2017. "Introduction to Visual Communication in the Age of Social Media: Conceptual, Theoretical and Methodological Challenges," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 1-5.
    8. Samu, Sridhar & Wymer, Walter, 2009. "The effect of fit and dominance in cause marketing communications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 432-440, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tejaswi Patil & Zillur Rahman, 2023. "Mapping the Cause-Related Marketing (CRM) field: document co-citation and bibliographic coupling approach," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 20(2), pages 491-520, June.
    2. Mendini, Monica & Peter, Paula C. & Gibbert, Michael, 2018. "The dual-process model of similarity in cause-related marketing: How taxonomic versus thematic partnerships reduce skepticism and increase purchase willingness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 195-204.
    3. van Rekom, Johan & Go, Frank M. & Calter, Dayenne M., 2014. "Communicating a company's positive impact on society—Can plausible explanations secure authenticity?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1831-1838.
    4. Dongho Yoo & Jung-Ae Kim & Sun-Jae Doh, 2018. "The Dual Processing of Donation Size in Cause-Related Marketing (CRM): The Moderating Roles of Construal Level and Emoticons," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, November.
    5. Xiaojun Fan & Nianqi Deng & Yi Qian & Xuebing Dong, 2022. "Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Cause-Related Marketing: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(2), pages 339-360, January.
    6. La Ferle, Carrie & Kuber, Gayatri & Edwards, Steven M., 2013. "Factors impacting responses to cause-related marketing in India and the United States: Novelty, altruistic motives, and company origin," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 364-373.
    7. Peter Wheale & David Hinton, 2007. "Ethical consumers in search of markets," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 302-315, May.
    8. Chen, Zengxiang & Huang, Yunhui, 2016. "Cause-related marketing is not always less favorable than corporate philanthropy: The moderating role of self-construal," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 868-880.
    9. Septianto, Felix, 2017. "Work more and indulge more: Exploring the self-licensing effect of hard work on likelihood to purchase hedonic products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 235-239.
    10. Mohammad Nurunnabi & Yazeed Alfakhri & Demah H. Alfakhri, 2018. "Consumer perceptions and corporate social responsibility: what we know so far," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 15(2), pages 161-187, June.
    11. Michael G. Luchs & Minu Kumar, 2017. "“Yes, but this Other One Looks Better/Works Better”: How do Consumers Respond to Trade-offs Between Sustainability and Other Valued Attributes?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 567-584, February.
    12. Hannes Koppel & Günther Schulze, 2013. "The Importance of the Indirect Transfer Mechanism for Consumer Willingness to Pay for Fair Trade Products—Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 369-387, December.
    13. Miha Dominko & Miroslav Verbič, 2022. "The effect of subjective well‐being on consumption behavior," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 876-898, June.
    14. Kim, Hee Jin & Song, Hayeon, 2020. "Effort justification for fun activities?: The effect of location-based mobile coupons using games," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    15. Bettiga, Debora & Lamberti, Lucio & Noci, Giuliano, 2017. "Do mind and body agree? Unconscious versus conscious arousal in product attitude formation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 108-117.
    16. Kureshi, Sonal & Thomas, Sujo, 2016. "Intention to Participate in Cause Related Marketing: Influence of Cause," IIMA Working Papers WP2016-03-12, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    17. Chang, Chia-Chi & Chen, Po-Yu, 2019. "Which maximizes donations: Charitable giving as an incentive or incentives for charitable giving?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 65-75.
    18. Adam Arian & John Sands & Stuart Tooley, 2023. "Industry and Stakeholder Impacts on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Financial Performance: Consumer vs. Industrial Sectors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-21, August.
    19. Neeraj Arora & Ty Henderson, 2007. "Embedded Premium Promotion: Why It Works and How to Make It More Effective," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 514-531, 07-08.
    20. Fennell, Patrick B. & Coleman, Joshua T. & Kuo, Andrew, 2020. "The moderating role of donation quantifiers on price fairness judgments," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 464-473.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:18:p:13379-:d:1234444. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.