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The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer perceptions of a potential sustainable line extension introduced by a specific fast-fashion retailer. Following brand-extension theory, the study seeks to identify the influences of knowledge of and involvement with the cause of sustainability, as well as knowledge and affect toward brand, on the evaluation of a sustainable line extension.

Participation was limited to those with in-store browsing experience with either Zara or H&M in the past 12 months. A self-administered online survey was developed using the written scenario approach. After several screening processes, 598 completed surveys were deemed usable for statistical analysis.

Findings identified significant cause and brand effects on brand-cause fit and brand-extension fit. In turn, brand extension was significantly predicted by brand-cause fit and brand-extension fit. In addition, the results of the study indicated that consumers do view sustainable products as fitting with fast-fashion retailers, based on their previous knowledge and affect regarding the brand and the cause.

This study sought to identify consumers’ perceptions of sustainable brand extension introduced by a fast-fashion retailer. Implications for retailers included leveraging consumers’ past knowledge and affect regarding the brand through marketing of the sustainable product.

Limited research has explored why and how cause-related marketing on social media influences consumers' responses. Drawing upon balance theory and consistency theory, this study aims to identify the mechanism of cause-related marketing on social media.

Data were collected from a sample of 360 users of cause-related marketing campaigns on social media and analyzed using structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.0.

The three types of congruence – self-image congruence, brand-image congruence and value congruence – can serve as sub-dimensions of perceived fit between a consumer, brand and cause of a cause-related marketing campaign on social media. Importantly, these perceived fit sub-dimensions positively influence community identification and, therefore, influence consumer citizenship behaviors.

The findings provide theoretical and practical contributions for a brand to undertake cause-related marketing on social media.

This study clarifies the myth of the perceived fit of cause-related marketing on social media and examines the perceived fit sub-dimensions’ mechanism of consumers' responses through community identification.

Cause related marketing (CrM) has gained popularity in Europe within the past decade. Therefore, the authors aim to investigate corporate motive and the fit of a company brand with the CrM cause as determinants of CrM campaign success.

Conjoint analysis is applied to campaign evaluations from 278 students in Germany. Campaigns attached to laptop purchases supporting an African hospital with either medical (low fit) or IT (high fit) infrastructure and were based on altruistic, neutral, or profit‐oriented company motives.

The authors find that altruistic motives increase consumer evaluations. In contrast to their hypothesis, campaigns are evaluated more positively, when product cause fit is low.

Based on their findings, the authors suggest exploring the fit of CrM campaigns in more detail: future research might explicitly consider the congruence of a CrM donation with a company's product, with the brand's claim and philosophy, and with the supported NPO.

Companies should think twice before using CrM as means of profit maximization. When selecting an adequate cause, attention should be paid to the company brand and to a product's potential impact on society. Moreover, the donation type (money versus product) should be chosen in a way to clearly support the cause and to avoid potential allegation of aiming at an increased distribution of own products.

The authors apply conjoint analysis to corporate motive and cause‐brand fit; this integrated consumer evaluation appears more realistic than most existing studies. Based on their results, the authors develop diverse perspectives on fit in CrM. These may be applied in future research.

Cause‐related marketing (CRM), the practice of donating money to a charity for each consumer purchase, has become an important part of corporate philanthropy. This research seeks to explore two types of product‐cause fit in CRM, and examine whether the selection of consistent‐fit and complementary‐fit causes could be influenced by product type and donation level.

An experiment in conjoint design was conducted based on a computer‐based survey involving 512 choice‐based conjoint interviews.

It is found that consumers are more likely to choose a hedonic product offering a donation with a complementary‐fit cause. In contrast, individuals tend to prefer a utilitarian product with a consistent‐fit cause. Beneficial effects of a complementary‐fit cause are enhanced when the donation level is high.

This paper is one of the first to present comprehensive qualitative analyses of consumer behavior with regard to product‐cause fit with diversity of products and situations. It provides more fruitful results than simple willingness‐to‐buy studies or direct inquires into people's attitudes toward CRM used in previous research, since less socially desired answers are obtained by taking an indirect approach to discovering consumer preferences. The paper raises concerns over the understanding of product‐cause fit and how exactly it works, especially with regard to sponsoring a cause that is complementary to the product image.

This study's first objective is to experimentally examine the effect of brand‐cause fit and campaign duration on company and brand image, commercial objectives and buying intention as perceived by Japanese consumers. Second, the study aims to evaluate the moderating role of gender and participation in philanthropic activities on the impact of cause‐related marketing (CrM) programs in Japan.

An experimental design was used with 196 Japanese subjects completing a survey online.

A high brand‐cause fit was found to elicit more positive attitudes toward the CrM program than campaign duration. Japanese female respondents were showing more favorable attitudes than men, confirming results in previous research studies conducted in the West. Previous participation in philanthropic activities was also found to increase positive attitudes especially when brand‐cause fit and duration were high.

The experiment relied on fictitious advertising materials. Many respondents were students from the greater Tokyo area. This may make it difficult to generalize findings to a broader population.

Results show that CrM campaigns in Japan are viewed more positively when consumers perceive a good match between the brand and the cause. Japanese marketers targeting women and consumers with philanthropic experience are likely to benefit by supporting matching social causes.

This paper is the first to contribute to better understanding of the impact of CrM in Japan. It does confirm the gender effect previously observed in western countries.

The aim of this study is to assess the direct and indirect impact of the prominence dimensions of fit between a brand and a cause on consumer intentions to purchase cause-related products by considering cases with more versus less positive attitudes towards a brand and a higher versus lower social cause affinity.

The study is based on data obtained via a survey of 403 respondents in Lithuania. A between-subjects study design with different brands and causes was used to identify the role of the differences in brand attitude and cause affinity on the message strength.

The data analysis has revealed that the specific prominence dimensions of fit (relationship visibility, relationship explicitness, visuals/colours, local attributes) have a direct and indirect impact, via the message strength, on consumer intentions to purchase cause-related products. Additionally, the mediation of the message strength was dependent on attitudes towards a brand but not on cause affinity.

This is the first attempt to contribute to filling the research gap regarding the impact of the prominence dimensions of fit on the intention to purchase a cause-related product. Paying special attention to message strength mediation allowed for the assessment of both the direct and indirect effects of the individual dimensions of fit.

Cause‐related marketing activities are increasingly becoming a meaningful part of corporate marketing plans. This paper aims to examine the relationship between the company, cause and customer, and how fit between these three groups influences consumer response via generating a positive attitude toward the company‐cause alliance and purchase intent for the sponsored product.

Two studies are carried out, first among students and second among consumers.

Two studies (study 1=232 students, study 2=531 consumers) demonstrate that company‐cause fit improves attitude toward the company‐cause alliance and increases purchase intent. Additionally, this effect is enhanced under conditions of customer‐company and customer‐cause congruence, and the consumer's overall attitude toward the sponsoring company. Skepticism about the company's motivation for participating in a cause‐related marketing initiative was not relevant to consumer purchase decisions.

Results from these studies suggest that consumers may in fact make two different assessments of the sponsoring company in a cause‐related marketing campaign. One assessment may be more cognitive where the consumer compares his or her own identity to that of the company: “Is this company like me? Are our identities alike?” The second assessment is more affective or emotional: “Do I like this company? Do I feel positively about this company?” The strength of the consumer sample suggests that when building a cause‐related marketing program, marketing managers should select a cause that makes sense to the consumer to be a partner in the alliance, build a general positive feeling toward their brand, and limit any self‐serving promotion of the cause‐related marketing alliance to the target consumer population.

The paper provides useful information on the relationship between the company, cause and customer, and how the fit between these three groups influences consumer response.

The paper aims to establish a causal relationship model that helps to realize how consumer involvement with the cause moderates the effect of company-cause fit on consumers’ corporate associations, and how their corporate associations regarding a company’s social responsibility programs influence their satisfaction with the company and the company’s corporate image, in the backdrop that the use of corporate social responsibility initiatives to affect consumers’ preference has become a common strategy.

In the main study, the authors conducted a between-subjects factorial design to test the research model. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed, and a valid sample of 389 participants was obtained.

The results show that high-fit programs have a positive influence on the perceived corporate ability (CA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) associations. CA associations directly influence corporate image and consumer satisfaction, while CSR associations indirectly impact consumer satisfaction through corporate image. Furthermore, consumers’ involvement with the cause increases the relationship between company-cause fit and CA associations.

These conclusions have important implications for a better understanding of consumer evaluation of CSR initiatives. Theoretically, this research increases understanding of the interaction effects of perceived company-cause fit and consumer involvement with the cause on consumer evaluation of a company engaged in CSR, and a richer insight into the role of CA and CSR associations in consumer evaluations of companies engaged in CSR campaigns. Managerially, this research shows how managers can choose CSR programs causes that are most likely to promote favorable customer CA and CSR associations, thereby improving the company’s corporate image and customer satisfaction.

Building on construal level theory and applying the hypothetical distance dimension, this cross-cultural study (individualistic vs collectivistic culture) aims to explore the effects of cause familiarity on individuals' attitudes toward a brand and how cause–brand fit mediates this relationship. Furthermore, this study explores how perceived betrayal moderates the relationship between cause–brand fit and attitude toward a brand.

A quantitative research design was adopted. Data collection was performed through snowball sampling of French and Turkish participants (N = 455). The collected data were then analyzed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.

The results reveal a significant effect of cause familiarity on attitude toward the brand, wherein one's attitude toward fit in a cause–brand alliance serves as a mediator in this relationship. The results also indicate that perceived betrayal moderates the relationship between cause–brand fit and attitude toward a brand. However, when it comes to facing a global pandemic, culture has no significant effect on consumers' perceptions and attitudes toward cause–brand alliances.

This research investigates the enhancement of attitudes toward a brand through an alliance with a familiar cause and explains this relationship via attitudes toward fit in such an alliance. Moreover, it provides novel insights into perceived betrayal as a variable that can lead to a more pronounced relationship between attitude toward fit and attitude toward a brand.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the dual nature of social cause‐brand fit by studying the influence of two cause‐brand fit categories, functional fit and image fit, on the formation of brand corporate social responsibility consumer perception (CSR perception) in a cause‐brand alliance (CBA) context.

A theoretical model is proposed, based on previous research, which explains the effect of functional fit and image fit on altruistic attributions, brand credibility and CSR image; these relationships were assessed through structural equation modelling. The model was estimated with a sample of 299 Spanish consumers of toiletries and cosmetics products, randomly selected. Two newly created, printed CBA advertisements served as the basic stimulus of the study.

This research shows that consumers perceive functional and image fit differently, and each has its own mechanism for influencing brand CSR perception. While functional fit has a direct, although gentle influence on CSR perception, image fit has an indirect influence, as it is used as a cue to evaluate altruistic brand motivations and brand credibility.

The chosen research approach may reduce the generalisability of the results. Further empirical testing using alternative brands and outcome measures is encouraged.

Both types of fit influence the formation of CSR perception, and should therefore be postulated as decision criteria to brand managers for choosing the CBA partner. Specifically, brands which are likely of being perceived as not credible or egoistic when associating with the cause, must pay special attention to image fit.

This work analyses and compares simultaneously the influence of functional fit and image fit on CSR brand perception formation in the context of a CBA strategy.