The impact of the macro-environment on consumer scepticism towards cause-related marketing: insights from the economic crisis

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the macro-environment influences consumer scepticism towards cause-related marketing (CRM), especially in a turbulent economic setting.

Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory qualitative research study utilising open-ended, semi-structured Skype interviews with 26 respondents was conducted in a country experiencing economic crisis.

Findings
The findings demonstrate that respondents hold a strong scepticism towards CRM campaigns and they are more negative towards the CRM campaigns initiated by foreign enterprises as compared to the domestic ones. This can be attributed to ethnocentrism, or even antipathy or animosity towards foreign companies due to crisis. Furthermore, results reveal that the political and legal elements of the macro-environment have an impact on consumer scepticism towards CRM campaigns, while the impact of the economic crisis itself did not seem to be equally significant.

Originality/value
This work contributes to the existing literature of CRM as it is the first study that explores the impact of macro-environmental elements on consumer scepticism towards CRM within an economic turbulence setting.