Incongruence between stakeholders in a cause-related marketing: what if it was all about perceived compensation?

Abstract

Cause-related marketing is a common practice in CSR strategies. This collaboration between a company and a non-profit organization aims at financing a cause through the sale of a product. It is a social initiative in which the company associates its image with a non-profit organization’s objectives
(social and/or environmental) for mutual benefit. The social marketing literature has focused on the effectiveness factors (the nature of the donation, the clarity of the message, etc.) and the effects (on the brand image, etc.) of the cause-related marketing. However, what remains unclear is the choice
of the partner. This research addresses this limitation by examining the importance of congruence (i.e., being perceived as having a good fit) between the brand and the organization supporting the cause. Based on two focus groups and individual interviews, the article shows the value of a
certain level of incongruence. It explains this counter-intuitive result by a principle of compensation perceived by consumers, which would allow the company to counterbalance the negative effects of its activities by supporting a cause related to the damage caused. The article proposes a typology of
these compensations, which can be social or environmental, direct or indirect.