A Tale of Two Evaluations: The Dynamic Effects of Cause-Related Marketing

Firms are increasingly engaging in socially responsible business practices, such as cause-related marketing (CRM) where firms partner with nonprofits to improve sales and brand value. Such activities, however, often fail to create positive spillover effects on firm outcomes. Building on dual-processing models, we distinguish between different firm outcomes and posit that CRM is more likely to influence brand evaluations relative to product evaluations because the former are made affectively and the latter cognitively. Consistent with the notion that a processing mode activated in one task can carry over to subsequent tasks, we show that when customers first evaluate the brand, the positive effect of CRM extends to subsequent product evaluations. However, when customers first evaluate the product, there is no positive effect of CRM on subsequent brand evaluations. These findings illuminate when and why CRM and other socially responsible business practices can have robust dynamic effects for the firm.