Abstract
Nowadays, companies are relying more and more on cause-related marketing (CRM) as an effective corporate social responsibility practice to achieve marketing objectives by consumers’ participation in donations. Specifically, the current study is focused on exploring millennials’ (born between 1980 and 2000) beliefs and understandings of a CRM practice that has received scant attention from marketing scholars despite its effectiveness in raising money: rounding up. For methodological purposes, a structural approach to the theory of social representations is adopted as it facilitates the analysis of interpretations and shared meanings held by a social group about a specific social phenomenon. Thus, drawing on this theoretical approach, the method of free-word associations was chosen and applied to 300 Mexican millennials. Findings indicate that millennials understand the purpose and nature of rounding up and, hence, they are willing to donate money through this practice. However, the mistrust of companies’ practices and intentions by millennials (e.g., tax evasion and misuse of money) affect the credibility of rounding up. Therefore, companies must implement practices to enhance awareness, transparency, and trust in their rounding-up practices.
Highlights
Cause-related marketing (CRM), referred to as a marketing strategy in which the company donates money to a cause or non-profit organization each time a consumer makes a purchase [1], has been widely adopted by companies as a form of corporate social responsibility practice [2]
Companies engage in cause-related marketing (CRM) due to the benefits it generates, such as positive consumer responses ranging from purchase intentions [3] to evaluations [4] and attitudes towards the brand [5]
Despite the relevance of both practices, the current study focuses on CRM since it has become a corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice widely adopted by companies [18]
Summary
Cause-related marketing (CRM), referred to as a marketing strategy in which the company donates money to a cause or non-profit organization each time a consumer makes a purchase [1], has been widely adopted by companies as a form of corporate social responsibility practice [2]. Companies engage in CRM due to the benefits it generates, such as positive consumer responses ranging from purchase intentions [3] to evaluations [4] and attitudes towards the brand [5]. These responses may vary depending on the social and cultural elements of consumers [6]. A promising research line of CRM literature is focused on millennials and their responses to CRM practices [7]. Millennials have been regarded as a selfish and narcissistic generation compared to generation X and baby boomers [10]
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