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Full Length Research Paper
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Cause related
marketing campaigns and consumer purchase intentions: The
mediating role of brand awareness and corporate image
Shahbaz Shabbir1*, Hans
Ruediger Kaufmann2, Israr Ahmad3 and
Imran M. Qureshi3
1COMSATS
Institute of Information Technology, Lahore, Pakistan.
2University
of Nicosia, Cyprus.
3International
Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
shahbazgill@gmail.com.
Accepted 23 June, 2009 |
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Abstract |
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The purpose of this research is to investigate the kind of
relationship between Cause Related Marketing (CRM) campaigns,
brand awareness and corporate image as possible antecedents of
consumer purchase intentions in the less developed country of
Pakistan. An initial conceptualization was developed from
mainstream literature to be validated through empirical
research. The conceptualization was then tested with primary
quantitative survey data collected from 203 students studying in
different universities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Correlation
and regression analysis were used to test the key hypothesis
derived from literature positing brand awareness and corporate
image as mediating the relationship between CRM and consumer
purchase intentions. The findings indicate that consumer
purchase intentions are influenced by the cause related
marketing campaigns. Furthermore it was observed that the brand
awareness and corporate image partially mediate the impact of
CRM campaigns on consumer purchase intentions. The data was
gathered from universities situated in Rawalpindi and Islamabad
only. Hence, future research could extend these findings to
other cities in Pakistan to test their generalizability. Further
research can be carried out through data collection from those
people who actually participated in cause related marketing
campaigns to identify the original behavior of customers instead
of their purchase intentions. This research and the claims made
are limited to the FMCG industry. The key implications cause
related marketing of these findings for marketing managers lend
support for the use of campaigns in Pakistan. The findings also
suggest some measures which can be taken in to consideration in
order to enhance brand awareness and to improve corporate image
as both variables mediate the impact of CRM campaigns on
consumer purchase intentions. The study contributes to cause
related marketing literature by indicating a mediating role of
brand awareness and corporate image on CRM campaigns and
consumer purchase intentions. This mediating role was ignored in
previous studies. Moreover, it contributes to close the gap of
empirical research in this field, which exists particularly due
to the diverse attitude of customers in less developed countries
such as Pakistan.
Key words:
Cause related marketing, brand awareness, corporate image,
purchase intentions, Pakistan. |
