In order to get to the bottom of substitution effects reported in CuCrO 2 delafossite, structural, magnetic, and electric properties of several CuCr 1−x M x O 2 series, where M 3+ is a S = 0 cation (M 3+ = Al 3+ , Ga 3+ , Sc 3+ , Rh 3+ ), have been investigated. It is shown that the homogeneity of the substitution is element dependent and is particularly difficult to achieve for the smallest Al 3+ cation. Ferroelectricity and dielectric properties are found to depend on the x value, but also on the nature of M: The largest substitution effects are observed for the larger elements, owing to the decrease of the Cr 3+ -Cr 3+ interaction resulting from the enlargement of the in-plane lattice parameter. However, the magnetic structures of CuCr 0.9 Ga 0.1 O 2 and CuCr 0.9 Rh 0.1 O 2 , revealed close to that of CuCrO 2 by neutron diffraction, demonstrate the great stability of this antiferromagnetic incommensurate structure against the presence of {M 3+ , S = 0} cations. This emphasizes the very different nature of the magnetic ground state of CuCrO 2 , as compared to CuFeO 2 , despite their common structural characteristics.