Online advertisements for cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns (partnerships between brands and social causes for mutual benefit) can be placed at different pages on an e-commerce website (e.g., homepage, individual product/service pages, payment page etc.) How does this variation in placement impact consumer behavior? In this study, we combine theoretical insights from the literature on CRM campaigns and the consumer decision journey to propose that the placement of CRM advertisements towards the end of the consumer decision journey (e.g., payment page) would lead to better outcomes for the brand and cause, as compared to placement at the beginning (e.g., homepage). The effects are mediated by skepticism towards the CRM campaign. Specifically, the placement of CRM advertisements towards the end would result in lower skepticism. We propose to conduct five laboratory studies and one field experiment to provide evidence in support of our theorization. We also plan to study the moderating effects of perceived control in the shopping process and demonstrate that CRM ads that increase perceived control over the process would reduce consumer skepticism at the beginning improving the effectiveness of the CRM ad. Our work answers the call for more research on online CRM and is among the first to study the impact of placement on consumer behavior in the context of CRM. In doing so, our work will provide an approach for future researchers to categorize and study online interruption-based advertisements in the context of the consumer decision journey. Practically, our findings will enable managers to im
| Project Team : | Arpita Pandey and Rajeev Batra |
| Sponsor : | VRSP, IIM Bangalore |
| Project Status: | Ongoing (Initiated in May 2022) |
| Area : | Marketing |
| Abstract : | Online advertisements for cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns (partnerships between brands and social causes for mutual benefit) can be placed at different pages on an e-commerce website (e.g., homepage, individual product/service pages, payment page etc.) How does this variation in placement impact consumer behavior? In this study, we combine theoretical insights from the literature on CRM campaigns and the consumer decision journey to propose that the placement of CRM advertisements towards the end of the consumer decision journey (e.g., payment page) would lead to better outcomes for the brand and cause, as compared to placement at the beginning (e.g., homepage). The effects are mediated by skepticism towards the CRM campaign. Specifically, the placement of CRM advertisements towards the end would result in lower skepticism. We propose to conduct five laboratory studies and one field experiment to provide evidence in support of our theorization. We also plan to study the moderating effects of perceived control in the shopping process and demonstrate that CRM ads that increase perceived control over the process would reduce consumer skepticism at the beginning improving the effectiveness of the CRM ad. Our work answers the call for more research on online CRM and is among the first to study the impact of placement on consumer behavior in the context of CRM. In doing so, our work will provide an approach for future researchers to categorize and study online interruption-based advertisements in the context of the consumer decision journey. Practically, our findings will enable managers to im |
