Containing Cause-Related Marketing Skepticism: A Comparison across Donation Frame Types

Corporate Reputation Review, 2016, 19(1), 4-21

40 Pages Posted: 20 Jul 2011 Last revised: 23 Feb 2016

See all articles by Pavlos A. Vlachos

Pavlos A. Vlachos

Alba Graduate Business School,The American College of Greece

Christos D. Koritos

American College of Greece

Areti Krepapa

American College of Greece (DEREE) - Graduate School of DEREE

Konstantinos Tasoulis

American College of Greece (DEREE) - Graduate School of DEREE

Ioannis Theodorakis

INSEEC Business School

Date Written: February 23, 2016

Abstract

This study examines how companies can better manage consumer attributions (i.e. perceived company underlying motives) to corporate social responsibility (CSR) through CSR-related communications. Specifically, the article focuses on cause-related marketing (CRM) initiatives and investigates how different types of CRM donation frames influence consumers’ perceptions of a company’s motivation to support a social cause. Drawing from the psychology of money and CSR literature, the article finds that the in-kind CRM donation frame works best at reducing consumers’ causal attributions of companies’ self-centered motives.

Keywords: Cause-Related Marketing Quantifiers, CSR Communications, Attributions, Other-Centered Motives, Self-Centered Motives

JEL Classification: M31

Suggested Citation

Vlachos, Pavlos A. and Koritos, Christos Demitrios and Krepapa, Areti and Tasoulis, Konstantinos and Theodorakis, Ioannis, Containing Cause-Related Marketing Skepticism: A Comparison across Donation Frame Types (February 23, 2016). Corporate Reputation Review, 2016, 19(1), 4-21, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1888308 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1888308

Pavlos A. Vlachos (Contact Author)

Alba Graduate Business School,The American College of Greece ( email )

6-8, Xenias str., Ampelokipoi
Athens, 115 28
Greece

HOME PAGE: http://www.alba.acg.edu

Christos Demitrios Koritos

American College of Greece ( email )

Gravias 6, Aghia Paraskevi
Athenes, 153-42
Greece

HOME PAGE: http://www.acg.edu

Areti Krepapa

American College of Greece (DEREE) - Graduate School of DEREE ( email )

Gravias 6, Aghia Paraskevi
Athenes, 153-42
Greece

Konstantinos Tasoulis

American College of Greece (DEREE) - Graduate School of DEREE ( email )

Gravias 6, Aghia Paraskevi
Athenes, 153-42
Greece

Ioannis Theodorakis

INSEEC Business School ( email )

Bordeaux
France

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