Portraying the Cause Instead of the Brand in Cause-Related Marketing ADS: Does it Really Matter?

The intention of a cause-related marketing campaign is to encourage the purchase of a brand so donations can be made to the partnering cause. This study compared two ads, one that portrayed the cause as the visual element and one that portrayed the brand, to determine which executional technique produced a greater effect on advertising outcome variables. By comparing two models using 495 nonstudent consumers, the study shows the brand photo had a greater effect on purchase intentions than the cause photo. The study also shows that attitude toward the cause-brand alliance is influenced by the familiarity of the brand supporting other research on brand familiarity's influence on attitude formation.