An Experimental Design to Test the Main and Interaction Effects of CSR Involvement, Brand Naming, and Pricing on Purchase Intentions in Thailand

Abstract

This study attempted to test the main and interaction effects of CSR involvement, brand naming, and pricing on consumers' purchase intentions by using a 2 x 2 x 2 experimental design. CSR involvement was based on a cause-related marketing campaign. Brand naming was based on a local/Thai brand name and a foreign brand name signifying that the product is from a renowned country. High prices and low prices were adopted for the pricing factor. A computer notebook was used to represent a high involvement and technological product for the experiment. Siam Computer was used to represent a Thai brand name whereas Toshisu was used to represent a foreign brand name. Students from a local university were recruited as experimental subjects. Fifty subjects were randomly assigned to each of the eight experimental conditions. All three experimental factors were found to have significant effects on purchase intentions. The levels of purchase intentions were found to be higher for products with CSR involvement, foreign brand name, and lower prices. The two way interaction effects suggested that CSR involvement had a positive effect on products with foreign brand name and higher prices. The effect of pricing was found to be stronger for products using Thai brand name. The three way interaction effect suggested that for a high price condition, CSR involvement had a strong effect on purchase intentions for products using a foreign brand name whereas in a low price condition, CSR involvement had no significant effect regardless of the name of the brand.

An Evolutionary Process Model of Cause‐Related Marketing and Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature

“…Twenty‐seven articles investigated the effects of involvement (i.e., the IVs related to participating or not participating in CRM and how this influenced consumer perceptions). The findings generally suggest that there are greater purchase intentions for products from firms that are involved in CRM compared to those who are not involved (Boonpattarakan, ; Hajjat, ). Further, it was found that compared to sponsorships, CRM leads to lower consumer–company identification (Lii & Lee, ) as well as lower attitudes toward the brand and perceived credibility of the campaign (Lii, Wu, & Ding, ).…”

“…Boonpattarakan discovered a significant effect for brand name origin (country it came from) on price intentions, but the effect depended on both the consumer's involvement with CRM and the price of the product. Brand name origin only gave CRM campaigns an advantage over non‐CRM campaigns when the price of the product was higher.…”

Impact of CSR Perception on Brand Image, Brand Attitude and Buying Willingness: A Study of a Global Café

“…Enterprises carrying out CSR provide a foundation for consumer evaluation (Maignan & Ferrell, 2001;Boonpattarakan, 2012). Customer oriented CSR can fulfill customers' needs (Clarkson, 1995;Brunk, 2010).…”

Analysis of the Relationship between CSR Activity and Purchase Motivation

“…After that, listen to "Do you want to buy a product?" Now, it is possible to get many expected answers just as in previous studies (Alexander et al, 2014;Boonpattarakan, 2012;Brown and Dacin, 1997), "I would like to buy because of CSR empathy." In this study, however, two potential relationships are made to analyze two independent questions: first, "do you sympathize companies' CSR activity?"…”