Asia Marketing Journal

Korean Marketing Association (한국마케팅학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Overcoming the Cause Marketing Paradox: The Effect of Nostalgia on Charitable Giving and Happiness

  • Lee, Shinhyoung (College of Business Administration, Seoul National University) ;
  • Yi, Youjae (College of Business Administration, Seoul National University)
  • Received : 2017.06.29
  • Accepted : 2017.10.27
  • Published : 2017.10.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The current research examines whether and when cause marketing, whereby firms link product sales to the support of a charity or cause, can increase charitable giving and happiness. Previous research suggests that cause marketing might reduce charitable giving and happiness among consumers. However, the present research finds the opposite result by introducing nostalgia as a moderator; cause marketing can enhance consumers' charity giving when their nostalgia is triggered. Moreover, results show that charitable giving increased by cause marketing improves feelings of happiness, suggesting that people view charitable behavior as a means of enhancing happiness. Interestingly, charitable giving and happiness are promoted by the situational priming of nostalgic events, but not by chronic individual differences such as nostalgia proneness.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the Institute of Management Research, Seoul National University

References

  1. Ahn, H.-K., Liu, M. W., & Soman, D. (2009). Memory markers: How consumers recall the duration of experiences. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19(3), 508-516.
  2. Bagozzi, R.P., & Yi, Y. (2012). Specification, estimation, and interpretation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(1), 8-34.
  3. Batcho, K. I. (1995). Nostalgia: A psychological perspective. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 80(1), 131-143.
  4. Batson, C. D. (1987). Prosocial motivation: Is it ever truly altruistic? Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 20, 65-122.
  5. Batson, C. D., & Shaw, L. L. (1991). Evidence for altruism: Toward a pluralism of prosocial motives. Psychological Inquiry, 2(2), 107-122.
  6. Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497-529.
  7. Cialdini, R. B., Schaller, M., Houlihan, D., Arps, K., Fultz, J., & Beaman, A. L. (1987). Empathy-based helping: Is it selflessly or selfishly motivated? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(4), 749-758.
  8. Davis, F. (1979). Yearning for yesterday: A sociology of nostalgia: Free Press.
  9. Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319(5870), 1687-1688.
  10. Flaherty, K., & Diamond, W. (1999). The impact of consumer's mental budgeting on the effectiveness of cause-related marketing. Paper presented at the American Marketing Association. Conference Proceedings.
  11. Harbaugh, W. T., Mayr, U., & Burghart, D. R. (2007). Neural responses to taxation and voluntary giving reveal motives for charitable donations. Science, 316(5831), 1622-1625.
  12. Hayes, A. F. (2012). PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling. [White paper]. Retrieved from http://www.afhayes.com.
  13. Holak, S. L., & Havlena, W. J. (1992). Nostalgia: An exploratory study of themes and emotions in the nostalgic experience. Advances in Consumer Research, 19, 380-387.
  14. Holbrook, M. B., & Schindler, R. M. (1991). Echoes of the dear departed past: Some work in progress on nostalgia. Advances in Consumer Research, 18, 330-333.
  15. Holbrook, M. B., & Schindler, R. M. (2003). Nostalgic bonding: Exploring the role of nostalgia in the consumption experience. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 3(2), 107-127.
  16. Khan, U., & Dhar, R. (2006). Licensing effect in consumer choice. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(2), 259-266.
  17. Krishna, A. (2011). Can supporting a cause decrease donations and happiness? The cause marketing paradox. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 21(3), 338-345.
  18. Kundera, M. (1999). Immortality: Harper Collins. Lasaleta, J. D., Sedikides, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2014). Nostalgia weakens the desire for money. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(3), 713-729.
  19. Leary, M. R., & Baumeister, R. F. (2000). The nature and function of self-esteem: Sociometer theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 32, 1-62.
  20. Lichtenstein, D. R., Drumwright, M. E., & Braig, B. M. (2004). The effect of corporate social responsibility on customer donations to corporate-supported nonprofits. Journal of Marketing, 68(4), 16-32.
  21. Liu, W., & Aaker, J. (2008). The happiness of giving: The time-ask effect. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(3), 543-557.
  22. Loveland, K. E., Smeesters, D., & Mandel, N. (2010). Still preoccupied with 1995: The need to belong and preference for nostalgic products. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(3), 393-408.
  23. Mazar, N., & Zhong, C.-B. (2010). Do green products make us better people? Psychological Science, 21(4), 494-498.
  24. Mikulincer, M., Florian, V., & Hirschberger, G. (2003). The existential function of close relationships: Introducing death into the science of love. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7(1), 20-40.
  25. Mikulincer, M., Shaver, P. R., Gillath, O., & Nitzberg, R. A. (2005). Attachment, caregiving, and altruism: Boosting attachment security increases compassion and helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(5), 817-839.
  26. Robinson, S. R., Irmak, C., & Jayachandran, S. (2012). Choice of cause in cause-related marketing. Journal of Marketing, 76(4), 126-139.
  27. Routledge, C., Arndt, J., Sedikides, C., & Wildschut, T. (2008). A blast from the past: The terror management function of nostalgia. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(1), 132-140.
  28. Sachdeva, S., Iliev, R., & Medin, D. L. (2009). Sinning saints and saintly sinners the paradox of moral self-regulation. Psychological Science, 20(4), 523-528.
  29. Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., Arndt, J., & Routledge, C. (2006). Affect and the self. Affect in Social Thinking and Behavior: Frontiers in Social Psychology, 197-215.
  30. Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., & Baden, D. (2004). Conceptual issues and existential functions. Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology, New York: Guilford, 200-214.
  31. Seehusen, J., Cordaro, F., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Routledge, C., Blackhart, G. C., ... Vingerhoets, A. J. (2013). Individual differences in nostalgia proneness: The integrating role of the need to belong. Personality and Individual Differences, 55 (8), 904-908.
  32. Stephan, E., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Zhou, X., He, W., Routledge, C., ... Vingerhoets, A. J. (2014). The mnemonic mover: Nostalgia regulates avoidance and approach motivation. Emotion, 14(3), 545-561.
  33. Thoits, P. A., & Hewitt, L. N. (2001). Volunteer work and well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 42, 115-131.
  34. Varadarajan, P. R., & Menon, A. (1988). Causerelated marketing: A coalignment of marketing strategy and corporate philanthropy. Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 58-74.
  35. Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Arndt, J., & Routledge, C. (2006). Nostalgia: Content, triggers, functions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(5), 975-993.
  36. Zhou, X., Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., & Gao, D.-G. (2008). Counteracting loneliness on the restorative function of nostalgia. Psychological Science, 19(10), 1023-1029.
  37. Zhou, X., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Shi, K., & Feng, C. (2011). Nostalgia: The gift that keeps on giving. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(1), 39-50.