Spatial Distance Construal Perspectives on Cause-Related Marketing: The Importance of Nationalism in Russia

Abstract

Consumers around the globe expect firms to contribute to environmentally and socially responsible causes. Using construal level theory with a spatial distance lens, we examine effects of spatial proximity of the firm (domestic firm vs. foreign multinational corporation [MNC]), cause (domestic vs. global), and consumer cultural identity (locally oriented: nationalism and consumer ethnocentrism; distantly oriented: global identity and global citizenship through global brands) on consumer attitudes toward the firm. Across three studies with a focus on Russia and environmental causes, we consistently find that nationalism moderates consumer attitudes, whereas consumer ethnocentrism, global identity, and global citizenship through global brands do not. When firms engage in cause-related marketing and focus on proximal causes, nationalistic consumers are more favorable toward domestic firms (vs. foreign MNCs). When firms are not engaged in cause-related marketing, consumers with stronger nationalism are more favorable toward domestic firms, and consumers with weaker nationalism are more favorable toward foreign MNCs. Importantly, the effects of nationalism are mitigated when foreign MNCs and domestic firms engage with global causes. Product involvement, environmental concerns, and marketplace skepticism are predictors of attitudes toward the firm. The results highlight the importance of considering the socio-historical-political context of a given country and locally oriented nationalistic beliefs.

Guest editorial

“…Despite, however, businesses' expansion of international/global operations, CRM has not been proportionately and/or adequately studied in an international marketing perspective. And yet, it is vital to consider how CRM by multinational corporations (MNCs) might be perceived by consumers (Bigné et al , 2012), as the needs of consumers can vary significantly across nations and cultures (Strizhakova and Coulter, 2019) with substantially different social expectations and perceptions of CRM (Santoro et al , 2019). Only a few of studies have really examined cross-cultural differences in consumers' responses to CRM (La Ferle et al , 2013; Choi et al , 2016), and researchers have identified some clear cultural patterns regarding CRM strategies in international business contexts.…”

The impact of the macro-environment on consumer scepticism towards cause-related marketing

“…Furthermore, past studies in Greece had revealed that both ethnocentric and non-ethnocentric Greek consumers value Greek products substantially more than imported products (Chryssochoidis et al, 2007), while other studies demonstrated that Greek consumers are willing to pay a premium price for products that are produced in Greece (Krystallis and Ness, 2004;Nakos and Hajidimitriou, 2007). Furthermore, a very recent study by Strizhakova and Coulter (2019) regarding CRM in Russia reveals that nationalistic consumers are more favourable towards domestic firms in contrast to foreign firms when these firms engage in CRM. The impact of the macroenvironment…”

Cause-related marketing

“…Second, supplier CRM-led philanthropic CSR reputation is a strong indicator of a firm's efforts to demonstrate care for the local community in which the stakeholders reside. In order to develop a strong supplier CRM-led philanthropic CSR reputation, a firm must participate extensively in supporting local causes (or nonprofit organizations) (Liu and Ko, 2011;Strizhakova and Coulter, 2019;Varadarajan and Menon, 1988).…”

“…Second, research on CRM-led CSR from a cross-border international business perspective is largely absent, with some notable exceptions, such as Eteokleous et al (2016), La Ferle et al (2013), Strizhakova and Coulter (2019) and a few others. In this study, we add to this literature stream by examining the contingent role of countries' differences in sustainable development regarding the relationship between CRM-led philanthropic CSR reputation and foreign customer business engagement.…”

“…However, few studies have examined the influence of CRM-led CSR on customer relationships in business-tobusiness (B2B) markets (e.g., Homburg et al, 2013;Vlachos et al, 2010). Second, scholars have explored the implementation and impacts of CRM-led CSR from the region-/countryspecific business perspectives, such as the UK (e.g., Liston-Heyes and Liu, 2010), Japan (e.g., Chéron et al, 2012), and others (e.g., Chéron et al, 2012;Duarte and Silva, 2018), but have paid relatively little attention to investigating CRM-led CSR opportunities from a cross-border international business perspective (e.g., Eteokleous et al, 2016;La Ferle et al, 2013;Strizhakova and Coulter, 2019).…”