• by Jeremy Kees , July 15, 2009

With Cause-Related Marketing (CRM) growing increasingly more popular as Fortune 500 companies "go green" and try to be socially responsible, advertisers and marketers should be aware that the "framing" or presentation of the cause is critical to consumers. People are more willing to purchase products and support causes that have an immediate or short-term benefit to a non-profit than a future or long-term benefit.

Even those CRM programs presenting long-term benefits can be made to seem more immediate, spiking consumer interest and purchase intent, i.e., assure consumers that "your dollar this month will help alleviate suffering" is better than a less-defined, long-term goal.

Many people discount the risk of the future and focus only on short-term gains for a variety of lifestyle choices (i.e., smoking, drinking, not eating healthy). These consumers stated in the beginning of the research we conducted that they discounted the benefits to the long-term CRM programs.

Counter to our expectations, the results of the field research showed that those consumers who described themselves at "future oriented" in their lifestyle choices liked the immediate and the long-term CRM programs equally. Thus, we found that if cause-related marketers want to appeal to the largest possible audience of both types of consumer groups, the presentation of the advertising should emphasize short-term gains over long-term gains.

I conducted a study along with Andrea Heintz Tangari and Scot Burton, both at the University of Arkansas, and Judith Anne Garretson Folse at Louisiana State University. Our paper, "The Framing of Societal Needs and Corporate Responses in Cause-Related Marketing Campaigns," is slated to be published in the Journal of Advertising later this year.

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