THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND ATTACHMENT FOR ADHERENCE TO CAUSES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

ABSTRACT This study examines the joint effects of brand-cause congruence, brand attachment, and attitude toward a cause of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumers’ intention to adhere to causes sponsored by a brand. The results of two experiments indicate that when consumers’ attitude toward such causes is less positive and brand attachment is low, the intention to adhere to a CSR cause is greater when the brand is congruent to the cause than when it is incongruent. If consumer brand attachment is high, the intention to adhere to the cause is also high, regardless of brand-cause congruence. However, 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.