Cause-Related Marketing and Ethnocentrism: The Moderating Effects of Geographic Scope and Perceived Economic Threat

Abstract

Amongst the various factors that managers need to consider when designing a CRM campaign is the cause’s geographic scope, i.e., should the CRM campaign benefit local, national, or international communities? Although previous research has examined the importance of geographic scope in the effectiveness of the CRM campaigns, it has largely ignored consumer reactions to CRM campaigns from a local cultural identity perspective, such as ethnocentric identity. This study brings together these two important factors to examine (through the lens of Social Identity Theory) how consumer ethnocentrism affects CRM effectiveness in campaigns varying in geographic scope. We test our hypotheses through an experimental study of 322 British consumers and three different geographic scopes (UK, Greece, and Ethiopia). Our results show that ethnocentric consumers show a positive bias towards products advertised through national CRM campaigns; however, there is a diversity of reactions towards different international geographic scopes, based on the levels of ‘perceived economic threat’. Ethnocentric consumers prefer international CRM campaigns that benefit people located in a country posing a lower vs. a higher economic threat to the domestic economy and the self. Our study contributes to a broader understanding of factors affecting the effectiveness of CRM campaigns and help managers design better CRM campaigns by carefully selecting the geographic scope, after considering a rising consumer segment: the ethnocentric consumer.

Examining the role of cause-related marketing in influencing the purchase intention of Indian customers in the FMCG sector: the role of attitude and cause involvement

“…The rationale behind cause-related marketing is to create a mutually beneficial relationship between a company and a social cause (Grau and Folse, 2007). It allows companies to align themselves with a cause that resonates with their target consumers, thereby increasing their sales (Boulouta and Manika, 2021), enhanced brand image (Homssi et al, 2023;Singh et al, 2020), reputation (Chaabouni et al, 2021;Pandey and Bajpai, 2022) and stronger consumer brand identification (Boulouta and Manika, 2021). By associating with a social cause, they stand out from rivals and attract socially concerned customers who prioritize supporting brands that contribute to social causes (Homssi et al, 2023).…”

“…Cause proximity also affects customers' CaRM responses (Grau and Folse, 2007). Cause proximity is defined as a CaRM campaign's geographic location and customer proximity (Boulouta and Manika, 2021). According to the existing literature (Grau and Folse, 2007;Vanhamme et al, 2012), customers' positive impressions of CaRM activities are affected by the proximity of a cause.…”

“…According to the existing literature (Grau and Folse, 2007;Vanhamme et al, 2012), customers' positive impressions of CaRM activities are affected by the proximity of a cause. Customers tend to support regional and national issues over global ones (Grau and Folse, 2007;Boulouta and Manika, 2021). Grau and Folse (2007) noted that CaRM's cause-proximity is a critical component that affects customers' mindset and buying intention.…”

Optimization for Sustainable Train Shunting Services Using DMAIC Cycle

“…The cause-and-effect scheme is also evident in fields such as sustainable solid waste management [21]. Marketing is one of the business fields that heavily relies on cause-and-effect analysis [22][23][24]. The goal here is to demonstrate the widespread applicability of cause and effect across disciplines.…”

Consumer ethnocentrism under the circumstances of the COVID-19 virus pandemic

“…According to Siamagka & Balabanis (2015), consumer ethnocentrism during crisis serves as a self-defence reflex of domestic economy, organizations and individuals against foreign competition and imports. Consequently, it can be concluded that there was an increase in ethnocentric tendencies during the current COVID 19 virus pandemic (Boulouta & Manika, 2022).…”