The Effects of Prior Impressions of a Firm’s Ethics on the Success of a Cause-Related Marketing Campaign: Do the Good Look Better While the Bad Look Worse?

Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 77-92, 2003

16 Pages Posted: 19 Dec 2010

See all articles by Michal Ann Strahilevitz

Michal Ann Strahilevitz

Saint Mary's College of California - School of Economics & Business

Date Written: 2003

Abstract

This research examines the effect of the initial perception of the ethical nature of a firm on the effects of that firm participating in a cause-related marketing campaign. In two studies, the effects of a cause-related marketing campaign are examined for companies perceived as ethical, unethical and ethically neutral. It is found that firms initially perceived as ethical are least likely to be seen as having ulterior motives for running a cause-related marketing campaign, whereas firms initially perceived as unethical are most likely to be suspected of having ulterior motives. However, it is also found that firms perceived as ethically neutral gained the most from a cause-related marketing campaign

Keywords: marketing, ethics, cause-related marketing, firm perception

JEL Classification: M30, M31, M37, M39

Suggested Citation

Strahilevitz, Michal Ann, The Effects of Prior Impressions of a Firm’s Ethics on the Success of a Cause-Related Marketing Campaign: Do the Good Look Better While the Bad Look Worse? (2003). Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 77-92, 2003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1728190

Michal Ann Strahilevitz (Contact Author)

Saint Mary's College of California - School of Economics & Business ( email )

United States
510-594-9999 (Phone)

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