Cause‐related marketing campaigns with luxury firms: An experimental study of campaign characteristics, attitudes, and donations

Abstract

• Cause-related marketing (CRM) partnerships between luxury firms and charitable organizations have grown in popularity, yet no study has examined such luxury CRM campaigns thus far. Using a fictitious campaign by the Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin and the Plan International Germany charity, the authors conducted an experimental CRM study among 281 actual luxury consumers. Realizing CRM campaigns in the luxury segment can be promising for luxury firms and charities. In particular, a CRM campaign works best when the donation magnitude is high (25% vs. 1%) and the price of the luxury service offering is moderate (€180 vs. €450). Furthermore, luxury campaigns enhance the attitudes of luxury customers toward charitable organizations, especially if they are unknown brands. Yet this study also offers a warning that luxury campaigns can be risky if consumers who have previously supported the charitable organization perceive the campaign as too high profile. Ultimately, this study reveals that CRM luxury campaigns play a major role for fundraising success.

Exploring the interactive effects of brand use and gender on cause-related marketing over time

“…Thus, from the original 277 participants, 217 completed all three phases of the study. The final sample consisted of 157 female and 60 male undergraduate students—a ratio that represents the gender proportion of students, who participated in the study, from a Midwestern U.S. university (see Anuar & Mohamad, ; Boenigk & Schuchardt, ). Their ages ranged from 17 to 28 years ( M = 20.6, SD = 1.32 and Median = 21).…”

“…The stimulus Web page was designed with professional help, so it would look like it belonged to Neutrogena and was part of a real CRM campaign, see Appendix A. Although the alignment of the two organizations was fictitious, the purpose was to examine preexisting experiences with the brand and improve external validity (e.g., Boenigk & Schuchardt, ).…”

“…Finally, most studies of CRM employ experimental design at a single time to examine the presumed influence of a CRM message on consumers' responses to the company, brand, or cause (e.g., Boenigk & Schuchardt, ; Nan & Heo, ; Thomas et al . , ).…”

Sustainable Luxury Marketing: A Synthesis and Research Agenda

“…), saving energy (Rettie et al . ), and supporting good causes (Bhattacharya and Sen ; Boenigk and Schuchardt ; Hagtvedt and Patrick ). Alongside marketers, consumers need to consider social responsibility when making purchases (Carrigan and Bosangit ).…”

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

“…Folse et al. add that donations with higher absolute dollar values for low‐priced products causes the consumer to perceive the firm as more altruistic in its motivations, while Boenigk and Schuchardt add that donations with higher percentage values for high‐priced products causes the consumer to become more likely to purchase the product. However, Barone et al.…”