Skip to main content
Log in

The impact of scepticism in cause-related marketing campaigns on audiences’ behavioural intentions with religiosity as a moderator

Focused Study on Nonprofit Organizations in India

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study tests the impact of scepticism about cause-related marketing (CrM) campaigns and its impact on audiences’ behavioural intention to donating for a cause being endorsed by nonprofit organizations (NPOs). To attain the above objective, the present study investigates how religiosity moderates the above relationship in developing markets such as India, which has so far remained under-explored. This study is based on examining the impact of the two main elements of audiences’ scepticism about CrM: the effect of the reputation of the NPO on audiences’ scepticism and the fit between the audiences’ and the NPO and their behavioural intentions to donate to the cause. This quantitative research was carried out by surveying 600 respondents using a convenience sample technique. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings suggest that religiosity impacts the outcomes of CrM campaigns, as it acts as a moderator of the relationship between scepticism and behavioural intention. This study contributes at the theoretical level by developing a conceptual framework that links scepticism and religiosity to behavioural intentions. This study also provides crucial directions to practitioners in terms of effectively designing CrM campaigns to influence behavioural intention by reducing scepticism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amawate, V., & Deb, M. (2019). Antecedents and consequences of consumer skepticism toward cause-related marketing: Gender as moderator and attitude as mediator. Journal of Marketing Communications, 1–22.

  • Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anuar, M. M., & Mohamad, O. (2012). Effects of skepticism on consumer response toward cause-related marketing in Malaysia. International Business Research, 5(9), 98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bae, M. (2018). Overcoming skepticism toward cause-related marketing claims: The role of consumers’ attributions and a temporary state of skepticism. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 35, 194–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagozzi, R. P., & Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), 74–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakar, A., Lee, R., & Rungie, C. (2013). The effects of religious symbols in product packaging on Muslim consumer responses. Australasian Marketing Journal; AMJ, 21(3), 198–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, R., Kerrigan, F., O'Reilly, D., Skarmeas, D., & Shabbir, H. A. (2011). Relationship quality and giving behaviour in the UK fundraising sector. European Journal of Marketing 45, 720–738.

  • Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2003). Consumer–company identification: A framework for understanding consumers’ relationships with companies. Journal of Marketing, 67(2), 76–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brønn, P. S., & Vrioni, A. B. (2001). Corporate social responsibility and cause-related marketing: an overview. International Journal of Advertising, 20(2), 207–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Browne, M. W., Cudeck, R., Bollen, K. A., and Long, J. S. (1993). Testing structural equation models.

  • Chaabane, A. M., & Parguel, B. (2016). The double-edge effect of retailers’ cause-related marketing. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.

  • Chang, C. T., & Cheng, Z. H. (2015). Tugging on heartstrings: shopping orientation, mindset, and consumer responses to cause-related marketing. Journal of Business Ethics, 127(2), 337–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, C. F., & Phou, S. (2013). A closer look at destination: Image, personality, relationship and loyalty. Tourism Management, 36, 269–278.

  • Cleveland, M., Laroche, M., & Hallab, R. (2013). Globalization, culture, religion, and values: Comparing consumption patterns of Lebanese Muslims and Christians. Journal of Business Research, 66(8), 958–967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cone, L. L. C. (2013). Cone Communications Social Impact Study: The Next Cause Evolution.

  • Coote, L. V., & Cornwell, B. T. B. (2003). Sponsorship of a cause: Exploring the role of organizational identification in sponsorship-linked purchase commitment. American Marketing Association.

  • Deb, M., & Amawate, V. (2019). Extending the knowledge on cause-related marketing (CrM) campaign with focus on skepticism. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems. https://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-05-2019-0061.

  • Deb, M., & Chaudhuri, H. R. (2014). Impact of firm's reputation and ethnocentrism on attitude towards foreign products. Marketing Intelligence and Planning.

  • Deb, M., & Sinha, G. (2015). Impact of culture on religiosity, cosmopolitanism and ethnocentrism. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics 28(1), 56–72.

  • Deb, M., Sharma, V. K., & Amawate, V. (2020). CRM, skepticism and patronage intention—the mediating and moderating role of satisfaction and religiosity. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 1–21.

  • Doney, P. M., & Cannon, J. P. (1997). An examination of the nature of trust in buyer–seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 61(2), 35–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellen, P. S., Mohr, L. A., & Webb, D. J. (2000). Charitable programs and the retailer: do they mix? Journal of Retailing, 76(3), 393–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elving, W. J. (2013). Scepticism and corporate social responsibility communications: The influence of fit and reputation. Journal of Marketing Communications, 19(4), 277–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foreh, M. R., & Grier, S. (2003). When is honesty the best policy? The effect of stated company intent on consumer skepticism. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13(3), 349–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goh, S. K., & Balaji, M. S. (2016). Linking green skepticism to green purchase behavior. Journal of Cleaner Production, 131, 629–638.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J. F. (1995). ua (1995): Multivariate data analysis with readings. Englewood Cliffs.

  • Hildebrandt, L. (1987). Consumer retail satisfaction in rural areas: A reanalysis of survey data. Journal of Economic Psychology, 8(1), 19–42.

  • Hinkin, T. R. (1995). A review of scale development practices in the study of organizations. Journal of Management, 21(5), 967–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou, J., Du, L., & Li, J. (2008). Cause’s attributes influencing consumer’s purchasing intention: Empirical evidence from China. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics.

  • Jeong, H. J., Paek, H. J., & Lee, M. (2013). Corporate social responsibility effects on social network sites. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1889–1895.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotler, P., & Lee, N. (2005). Best of breed: When it comes to gaining a market edge while supporting a social cause, “corporate social marketing” leads the pack. Social Marketing Quarterly, 11(3-4), 91–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • La Ferle, C., Kuber, G., & Edwards, S. M. (2013). Factors impacting responses to cause-related marketing in India and the United States: Novelty, altruistic motives, and company origin. Journal of Business Research, 66(3), 364–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, E. M., Park, S. Y., Rapert, M. I., & Newman, C. L. (2012). Does perceived consumer fit matter in corporate social responsibility issues? Journal of Business Research, 65(11), 1558–1564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lii, Y. S., & Lee, M. (2012). Doing right leads to doing well: When the type of CSR and reputation interact to affect consumer evaluations of the firm. Journal of Business Ethics, 105(1), 69–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mael, F., & Ashforth, B. E. (1992). Alumni and their alma mater: A partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(2), 103–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullen, J. (1997). Performance-based corporate philanthropy: How “giving smart” can further corporate goals. Public Relations Quarterly, 42(2), 42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Obermiller, C., Spangenberg, E., & MacLachlan, D. L. (2005). Ad skepticism: The consequences of disbelief. Journal of Advertising, 34(3), 7–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel, J. D., Gadhavi, D. D., & Shukla, Y. S. (2017). Consumers’ responses to cause related marketing: moderating influence of cause involvement and skepticism on attitude and purchase intention. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 14(1), 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polonsky, M. J., & Wood, G. (2001). Can the overcommercialization of cause-related marketing harm society? Journal of Macromarketing, 21(1), 8–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranganathan, S. K., & Henley, W. H. (2008). Determinants of charitable donation intentions: a structural equation model. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 13(1), 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratnakaran, S. T., & Edward, M. (2019). Evaluating cause-marketing campaigns in the Indian corporate landscape: The role of consumer skepticism and consumer attributions of firm's motive. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 24(3), e1638.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rindova, V. P., Williamson, I. O., & Petkova, A. P. (2010). Reputation as an intangible asset: Reflections on theory and methods in two empirical studies of business school reputations. Journal of Management, 36(3), 610–619.

  • Rubio, N., Villaseñor, N., & Yagüe, M. J. (2017). Creation of consumer loyalty and trust in the retailer through store brands: The moderating effect of choice of store brand name. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34, 358–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shabbir, S., Kaufmann, H. R., Ahmad, I., & Qureshi, I. M. (2010). Cause related marketing campaigns and consumer purchase intentions: The mediating role of brand awareness and corporate image. African Journal of Business Management, 4(6), 1229–1235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaharudin, M. R., Pani, J. J., Mansor, S. W., Elias, S. J., & Sadek, D. M. (2010). Purchase intention of organic food in Kedah, Malaysia; A religious overview. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 2(1), 96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shree, D., Gupta, A., & Sagar, M. (2017). Effectiveness of cause-related marketing for differential positioning of market entrant in developing market: An exploratory study in Indian context. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 22(2), e1573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skarmeas, D., & Leonidou, C. N. (2013). When consumers doubt, watch out! The role of CSR skepticism. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1831–1838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tantawi, P., & Sadek, H. (2019). The impact of celebrity endorsement in cause related marketing campaigns on audiences’ behavioral intentions: Egypt case. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 16(2-4), 293–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thamaraiselvan, N., Arasu, B. S., & Inbaraj, J. D. (2017). Role of celebrity in cause related marketing. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 14(3), 341–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Indian Express (2015) India 18th most religious country in world,finds survey. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/latest-news/india-18thmost-religious-country-in-world-finds-survey/lite/. Accessed 16 Feb 2021.

  • Thomas, S., & Kureshi, S. (2020). Consumer skepticism towards cause related marketing: exploring the consumer tendency to question from emerging market perspective. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 1–12.

  • Trimble, C. S., & Rifon, N. J. (2006). Consumer perceptions of compatibility in cause-related marketing messages. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 11(1), 29–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varadarajan, P. R., & Menon, A. (1988). Cause-related marketing: A coalignment of marketing strategy and corporate philanthropy. Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 58–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veleva, S. (2013). Different donation structures and their impact on the effectiveness of a cause-related marketing campaign.

  • Walker, M., & Kent, A. (2013). The roles of credibility and social consciousness in the corporate philanthropy-consumer behavior relationship. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(2), 341–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warshaw, P. R., & Davis, F. D. (1985). Disentangling behavioral intention and behavioral expectation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21(3), 213–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb, D. J., & Mohr, L. A. (1998). A typology of consumer responses to cause-related marketing: From skeptics to socially concerned. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 17(2), 226–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worthington Jr., E. L., Wade, N. G., Hight, T. L., Ripley, J. S., McCullough, M. E., Berry, J. W., et al. (2003). The religious commitment inventory--10: Development, refinement, and validation of a brief scale for research and counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50(1), 84–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, H. T., & Yen, G. F. (2018). Consumer responses to corporate cause-related marketing. European Journal of Marketing.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Madhurima Deb.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 4

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Deb, M. The impact of scepticism in cause-related marketing campaigns on audiences’ behavioural intentions with religiosity as a moderator. Int Rev Public Nonprofit Mark 18, 387–401 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-021-00278-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-021-00278-3

Keywords

Navigation