When American Express launched a campaign in 1984, pledging to donate a penny to the Statue of Liberty restoration project for each cardmember transaction, the promise of cause marketing caught the attention of both nonprofits with fundraising needs, as well as marketers seeking to enhance corporate image while maximizing sales and profits. Since that time, cause marketing (also known as cause-related marketing, cause-brand partnerships, or cause tie-ins) has been the subject of continuing debate and change, while growing in importance and prevalence. The current paper provides an examination of the debate as it has evolved, of the methods and strategies that have been popularized and criticized, and of the outlook for the future of cause marketing. All of these topics will be considered from the varying perspectives of the parties involved in cause marketing: the consumer, the corporation, and the nonprofit organization. In particular, the implications of some newly identified developments will be discussed, together with an assessment of specific opportunities and obstacles that lie ahead.
Recent federal legislation mandating chain restaurants to disclose the number of calories in menu items was introduced in the hopes of influencing consumers to make more healthful food choices when eating out. However, many studies on the impact of including calorie labeling on restaurant menus and menu boards have relied on questionable methodologies, yielding inconsistent results and leaving unanswered the question of whether calorie information on menus indeed impacts food selection. In an effort to provide more definitive data, the present study employed a controlled posttest-only experimental design with random assignment. Students assigned to the control group ordered a meal from a typical fast-food menu board that did not display any calorie information, while students assigned to the experimental treatment group ordered from an identical menu board, with the exception that calorie information was displayed for each item. The results demonstrated that the display of calorie information did not cause members of the experimental treatment group to order items bearing significantly fewer calories than those ordered by the control group. Thus, contrary to the results of many previous studies, the present study strongly indicated that the presence of calorie labeling does not have a significant impact on consumer choices in fast-food restaurants. While studies have shown that consumers are strongly in favor of the inclusion of calorie information on menus, this study provides evidence that some further or alternative intervention is needed before such calorie information can translate into healthier food choice behavior.
Digital video equipment and studios newly available for faculty use can be incorporated into the technological repertoire of college faculty, enabling professors to customize and enhance the learning experience of their students. Todays students are particularly attuned to analyzing visual images and data, so the use of customized films in the classroom makes very good sense from a pedagogical standpoint. The present paper examines the lessons learned from the process of producing a documentary-style digital video that serves as the centerpiece of a thought-provoking learning module for the introductory course in marketing.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.