• Adweek, Tuesday, September 28, 2010 10:15 PM

Cause-related marketing came into its own when the economy was faring well. But unlike some other fair-weather phenomena, consumers' interest in corporate support for worthy causes has not succumbed to the downturn of the past several years. A survey for Cone LLC, an Omnicom Group unit that specializes in the field, finds consumers still want companies to be engaged with good causes and will reward those that rise to the occasion.

Whatever constraint the economy has put on consumers' inclination to make purchases that are linked to a cause, the activity is far more common now than it was a couple of decades ago. In a 1993 survey (Cone's first on this subject), 20% said they'd bought a product or service in the previous year because it was associated with a social or environmental cause. In the new survey (conducted in July), 41% said they'd done so. Moreover, they expect companies to be engaged in such matters. 88% now say it's acceptable "for companies to involve a cause or issue in their marketing," up from 66 percent in 1993.

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