Testing the influence of message framing, donation magnitude, and product category in a cause-related marketing context

Abstract

Cause-related marketing (CRM) has developed into a versatile and cost-effective tool to accomplish corporate objectives. Understanding the consumer expectations and preferences while planning and designing effective CRM communication strategies has become necessary for marketers. In order to understand the effect of CRM communication on consumers purchase intention, two separate experiments were conducted to examine the interactive effect of donation message framing, donation magnitude, and product category with a sample of 180 participants for each. This study was drawn from a sample of undergraduate students from a mid-sized university in India. The results of study 1 indicated that exact message framing regardless of the product (i.e., high and low involvement) generated higher purchase intention. Study 2 demonstrated that purchase intention for high CRM donation magnitude was influenced most by product category involvement. Overall, the outcome suggests that design elements of CRM communication does influence consumer response to the campaign.