The effect of self-construal on the level of engagement in cause-related marketing campaigns

Abstract

Research around Cause-related marketing has had been amongst the main interests of the Marketing Science Institute ever since the year 2018, specifically on understanding the means of stimulating engagement in such campaigns. This dissertation builds up on this research interest and analyses the effect of an individual’s self-construal (SC) on the level of engagement in Cause-related campaigns. Engagement is measured through the level of attitudes, participation/intentions in such campaigns, along with the level of dissemination of positive Electronic/word of mouth and the mediation role of company reputation in this process. One important phenomenon revealed itself while trying to measure the previously mentioned relationship, which was the fact that the measurement of self-construal has had been facing multiple discrepancies throughout literature which prioritizes the investigation around the best measurement technique to use while measuring it. The authors created a meta-analysis on this topic and realized that there is truly a need for a new self-construal scale and that the best way of doing it is through a qualitative ranking Delphi. The Delphi was implemented, and a new measurement scale was created through the efforts of multiple experts on the topic from different countries around the world. After the creation of this new scale, it underwent a confirmatory factor analysis using data retrieved from two different countries representing two opposing cultures (individualistic vs. collectivistic), and as a result, a modified version of the scale was validated, reflecting the construct as a 4th order formative construct, measuring 6 dimensions through 35 items. After the validation of the scale, this dissertation studied the model and measured the direct relationship between individuals’ self-construal and their level of engagement in Cause-related marketing campaigns amongst cultures that are individualistic versus collectivistic, and concluded that such campaigns are very beneficial to marketers in both cultures as they improve the consumers’ attitudes, participation intentions, and actual participation in such campaigns, along with the company’s reputation and the level of positive dissemination of word-of-mouth. This was an important phenomenon for marketers in individualist countries as it was expected by research that consumers in their markets are more interested in their own wellbeing than in participating in such collective activities. This dissertation provided researchers with a new and validated self-construal scale, along with proof that Self-construal has a direct positive causal relationship on cause-related marketing campaigns, which are profitable for companies operating in different cultures in terms of sales, reputation, and loyalty towards the brand.

Date of Award	4 Jul 2022
Original language	English
Supervisor	Josep Rialp-Criado (Director)