The role of consumer-cause identification and attitude in the intention to purchase cause-related products

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend prior research on the influence of consumer-cause identification on the intention to purchase products from the companies supporting the cause and re-evaluates the role of attitude toward the cause as a mediator of the relationship between identification...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International marketing review 2020-08, Vol.37 (4), p.603-620
Main Authors: Duarte, Paulo Alexandre de Oliveira, Silva, Susana C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anniversaries
Attitude
Attitudes
Consumer behavior
Consumer behaviour
Consumers
Corporate social responsibility
Identification
Nonprofit organizations
Public relations
Purchase intention
Social marketing
Social responsibility
Society
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Summary:PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend prior research on the influence of consumer-cause identification on the intention to purchase products from the companies supporting the cause and re-evaluates the role of attitude toward the cause as a mediator of the relationship between identification and intention to purchase.Design/methodology/approachUsing a questionnaire, a sample of 156 Portuguese consumers evaluated their personal identification and attitude to one of four causes. Partial least squares path modeling was used to evaluate the proposed conceptual model.FindingsThe results reveal that more than identification, a positive attitude is vital to be able to predict the intention to purchase. Together, consumer-cause identification and attitude explain 35.1 percent of the variance in purchase intention. The findings show also that attitude acts as a mediator in the relationship between the identification with the cause and intention to purchase. Several differences regarding gender and age are also revealed.Originality/valueWhile the majority of studies were single cause evaluations, the current results are based on the assessment of multiple causes. Consequently, the findings are more comprehensive and robust, providing important insights to researchers. The conclusions confirm within a wider context the role of attitude as a mediator of the identification and intention to purchase and can further assist companies in designing better targeted cause-related marketing campaigns.
ISSN:0265-1335
1758-6763
DOI:10.1108/IMR-04-2018-0159