COVID-19 cause-related campaigns and consumers’ purchase intention: does religiosity matter?

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to propose and test a theoretical framework in which attitude towards COVID-19 cause-related campaigns mediates the effects of identification with the cause, donation size, emotional arousal and subjective norms on consumer purchase intention. The authors also explore the moderating effect of religiosity in an emerging nation marked by the dominance of the Islamic doctrine. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from a sample of 561 consumers from Morocco were analyzed to test the hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Findings First, attitude toward COVID-19 cause-related campaigns has a significant effect on consumer purchase intention; at the same time, it is influenced by identification with the cause, donation size, emotional arousal and subjective norms. Second, the results confirm the mediating effect of attitude toward COVID-19 cause-related campaigns, e.g. higher emotional arousal triggers positive attitude towards COVID-19 cause campaigns, which shapes consumer purchase intention. Third, Islamic religiosity acts as a moderator, e.g. individuals who feel themselves as highly religious are more likely to develop favorable attitude towards cause brands and therefore form stronger purchase intentions when exposed to COVID-19 cause campaigns. Practical implications The findings of this research suggest a number of practical and social implications for both academics and practitioners. Successful cause-related marketing (CrM) campaigns should include facets inducing emotional arousal, superior donation size, identification with the cause and subjective norms, which, in turn, enhances consumers’ attitude toward the campaign, their attitude towards the brand and purchase intentions. Practitioners interested in expanding into majority-Muslim markets should also consider the use of faith-based messages and religious morals when planning CrM campaigns. Originality/value While preliminary studies have already attempted to provide knowledge about the impact of COVID-19 on individuals’ health and well-being, potential effects on consumers’ decisions and behavior have not been considered much and are yet to be empirically investigated. This original research is among the first to provide insights about the potential use of COVID-19 cause to shape consumer purchase intention and behavior. This will strengthen our cross-cultural appreciation of the disparities in consumer perception of CrM among Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

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Economics of Electric Vehicle Adoption: An Integrated Framework for Investigating the Antecedents of Perceived Value and Purchase Intent

“…The accepted value of Cronbach's alpha is 0.7 (Chetioui and Lebdaoui, 2021); however, values above 0.6 are also accepted (Griethuijsen et al, 2015;Taber, 2018) which means that our Cronbach's alpha shown in Table 2 values would be satisfied for each variable as they are all above the accepted value. The third criterion used is the average variance extracted (AVE) which is as in Table 2 above 0.5 for all the constructs which mean that convergent validity was achieved for the case of this research (Hair et al, 2010).…”

Determining the Construct Validity and Reliability of Philanthropic Behaviour Scale using Rasch Model

“…Besides financial wellness, the formation of attitudes and behaviours is largely driven by religion either at the individual or collective level (Chetioui & Lebdaoui, 2021). Indeed, religiosity reflect an individual's belief in God and his keenness to act in accordance to the religion (Abou, Richard, & Noor, 2013).…”

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