Linking cause-related marketing to sales force responses and performance in a direct selling context

Abstract

The influence of a firm's cause-related marketing efforts on sales representative attitudes and behavioral performance is investigated. Results from a field study indicate that the influence of a representative's construed customer attitude toward the cause campaign on selling behavioral performance is mediated through cognitive identification and selling confidence. Further, the influence of construed customer attitude toward the campaign on selling confidence is moderated by cognitive identification such that the effects are stronger for salespeople with lower levels of identification with the company. The authors discuss the implications of the research and offer directions for further research.Keywords Cause-related marketing efforts . Selling confidence . Customer attitude Over the past two decades, corporate social responsibility (CSR) increasingly has been recognized by scholars and utilized by managers as a viable business tool and a potential source of sustainable competitive advantage (e.g., Cone et al. 2003). Charitable giving by corporations reached approximately $13.77 billion in 2005 in the USA alone (American Association of Fundraising Counsel 2006). Further, a growing body of academic research considers the influence of CSR on a variety of consumerrelated outcomes ranging from receptiveness to new products (Brown and Dacin 1997) to consumers' inferences about other individuals (Yoon et al. 2006).The influence of CSR on important audiences other than consumers, however, has remained largely unexplored, in spite of calls for greater focus on these groups (e.g., Drumwright 1996). Our research focuses on how a company's CSR-related promotional campaign, directed at consumers, can have important effects among members of the sales force, a key internal constituency. We deepen the CSR research stream by replacing the broad idea that CSR efforts will enhance insider morale with a model that depicts and tests (a) specific mediational paths through which salespersons' beliefs about customers' attitudes toward a CSR promotional campaign (i.e., construed customer attitude toward the cause campaign [CCA campaign ]) influence their behavioral performance with respect to selling, and (b) a key moderating condition on the influences of CCA campaign .In the following section, we discuss CSR, in particular focusing on cause-related marketing as one common application of CSR. Next, we develop a conceptual model that connects sales representative CCA campaign with behavioral performance. Finally, we present and discuss the results of a field study involving independent sales consultants working with a direct selling company that provide support for our hypotheses.

Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer Orientation, and the Job Performance of Frontline Employees

“…Bartel (2001) finds that CSR can stimulate social comparisons with external beneficiaries of a CSR program, which can lead to organizational identification. Larson et al (2008) find that in a direct selling context, CSR can improve selling confidence. We integrate and extend this work, showing that employees identify with the organization based on social comparisons with both internal and external others, and that this can lead to increases both in customer orientation and job performance.…”

The curvilinear and conditional effects of product line breadth on salesperson performance, role stress, and job satisfaction

“…These three items are theoretically grounded in the self-report salesperson performance scale developed by Behrman and Perreault (1982) and have been used by several studies that adapted this scale to assess salesperson performance (e.g., Behrman and Perreault 1984;Challagalla and Shervani 1996;Jones et al 2007;Sujan et al 1994). Self-report salesperson performance measures have also been used by many other studies in the marketing literature (e.g., Homburg et al 2011;Larson et al 2008;Shannahan et al 2013;Wang and Netemeyer 2002). As shown in the meta-analysis by Churchill et al (1985), self-report measures of salesperson performance essentially give the same results as performance evaluations provided by managers and peers.…”

Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Cause-Related Marketing Campaign: Moderating Effect of Sponsor-Cause Congruence

“…Congruence is in terms of the brand's product and the issue that the cause supports, or the brand and the cause targeting similar markets, or brand image associations. Thus, congruence is an important variable that may influence consumers' perception of corporate motive (Larson et al, 2008).…”

“…Factors leading to the success or failure of C-RM campaigns undertaken by for profit organizations haven't been yet documented or explored in a methodologically broader way (Grau & Folse, 2007;Larson et al, 2008;Moosmayer & Fuljahn, 2010;Hajir et al, 2015). In order to fill this gap, there is a need for research that identifies those factors that have an influential power over the success of C-RM and the importance of this study is derived from the above.…”