Cause-Related Sport Marketing and Its Effects on Consumer Behavior

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation was to construct a customer-based cause-related sport marketing (CRSM) model and test the relationships among the proposed antecedents, consequences, and moderators. Three experimental studies were executed to achieve the research purpose. Study 1 aimed at examining how customers evaluate cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns of team licensed products. A choice experiment (N=109) indicated that (a) a "social responsible" feature was the second most important attribute for choosing a baseball cap, (b) a low-fit, but familiar, CRM program was preferred to a high-fit, but unfamiliar, program, and (c) fan identification moderated the impact of sport/cause fit on students' choice of team licensed products. Study 2 investigated the impact of personality and gender on consumer attitudes toward CRSM programs. A 2 (sport/cause fit) x 2 (motivation) within subject experiment (N=86) found that (a) both sport/cause fit and motivation engaging in CRSM significantly affected consumer attitudes toward CRSM, (b) females showed more positive attitudes toward CRSM programs, and (c) Agreeableness was positively related to consumer attitudes toward CRSM but Neuroticism was negatively associated. Study 3 centered on the direct and moderating effects of fan identification and organizational identification on consumer attitudes toward CRSM programs using intercollegiate sport as a context. A two-group (high vs. low-fit CRSM messages), between subject, and post-test only experiment (N=309) denoted that (a) respondents showed more positive attitudes toward high-fit CRSM messages, (b) both fan identification and organizational identification moderated the effects of sport/cause fit on attitudes, and (c) positive attitudes increased purchase intentions on the cause-related products. To sum up, the three experimental studies support the relationships among antecedents, consequences, and moderators proposed in the customer-based causerelated sport marketing model. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed. Finally, several limitations and future research directions are also established.