Brand attachment importance to corporate social responsibility causes adherence

• Main Authors: Annaysa Salvador Muniz Kamiya, José Mauro da Costa Hernandez, Agnne Karoline S. Xavier, Débora Beserra Ramos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fundação Getulio Vargas 2018-12-01
• Series: RAE: Revista de Administração de Empresas
• Subjects: Corporate social responsibility; brand attachment; attitude toward the cause; brand-cause congruence; experiment
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rae/v58n6/en_0034-7590-rae-58-06-0564.pdf
• ISSN: 0034-7590; 2178-938X

This study examines the joint effect of brand-cause congruence, brand attachment, and attitude toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the intention of consumers to adhere to causes sponsored by a brand. The results of two experiments suggest that when consumer attitude toward such causes is less positive and attachment to the brand is low, the intention to adhere to a CSR cause is greater when the brand is congruent to thecause than when it is incongruent; if consumer brand attachment is high, the intention to adhere to the cause is the same, regardless of brand-cause congruence. On the other hand, if consumer attitude toward the cause is more positive, brand attachment does not moderate the effect of brand-cause congruence on the intention to adhere to the cause. The perception of persuasive intent mediates the influence of brand-cause congruence on the intention to adhere for consumers with low brand attachment, but not for those with high brand attachment.