Awareness marketing: cause-related marketing without direct contribution

Purpose Prior research has investigated the benefit of companies that engage in cause-related marketing initiatives. However, this prior research has not adequately examined cause-related marketing situations when brands raise awareness for a cause without contribution of tangible resources to the cause (i.e. awareness marketing); thus, the purpose of this paper is to introduce and test awareness marketing as a new type of cause-related marketing. Design/methodology/approach Through four experimental studies with different sample sources, the authors introduce and examine a new type of cause-related marketing (awareness marketing) as well as identify mediating explanatory mechanisms. Findings Awareness marketing produces similarly heightened purchase intentions to other types of cause-related marketing (e.g. financial donation) when compared to situations where cause-related marketing is not used. Awareness marketing can also lead to higher brand authenticity and brand originality perceptions in some situations when compared to cause-related marketing incorporating a financial donation component or when no cause-related marketing is used. Brand perceptions and consumers’ perceived self-brand connection mediate the relationship from cause-related marketing to purchase intentions. Research limitations/implications This research is limited by conducting studies in only experimental conditions and in one culture. Theoretical implications are provided to the literature on brand authenticity and self-brand connection. In doing so, the authors explain why awareness marketing is evaluated differently than other types of cause-related marketing or marketing without any cause reference. Practical implications Marketers would benefit from using awareness marketing (i.e. raising awareness for a cause without direct contribution to the cause) as a lower investment alternative to traditional cause-related marketing efforts. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to introduce awareness marketing as a new type of cause-related marketing and compare it to traditional types of cause-related marketing, thereby providing novel contributions as to how cause-related marketing can effectively increase purchase intentions without making a financial, product or other tangible contribution to a cause.