Containing Cause-Related Marketing Skepticism

Abstract

This study examines how companies can better manage consumer attributions (ie, perceived company underlying motives) to corporate social responsibility (CSR) through CSR-related com-munications. Specifically, the article focuses on cause-related marketing (CRM) initiatives and investigates how different types of CRM dona¬tion 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: attributions; cause-related marketing; consumer skepticism; corporate social responsibility