The effect of cause-related marketing on brand purchase intention and brand word of mouthCase study: Ehsan brand (belongs to the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee (RA))

The research aims to investigate the effect of awareness of the brand connection with a charity, trust in the charity, charity's reputation, and consumers' perception of effectiveness in improving the cause, on the behavioral intentions of buyers.

The research was conducted using a quasi-experimental method (a pre-test-post-test design) in two experimental groups (Mahak and Imam Khomeini Relief Committee (RA)) in cyberspace. First, the participants watched a 74-second promotional video of Ehsan brand products (without mentioning the charity and only focused on the variety and quality of the products) and answered the questions related to the intention to buy the brand and recommend it to others. Then, by showing a printed ad, they learned about the brand's connection to one of the charities. then, the willingness to buy and the intention to recommend, as well as the participants' perception of effectiveness in improving the cause, trust in the charity, and the charity's reputation were measured again. Hypotheses were checked using the mean comparison test of dependent pairs and structural equation modeling.

Consumers' awareness of connecting the brand with charity strengthens positive behaviors such as willingness to buy and recommend the product to others. Also, when buyers feel that they can influence the improvement of the cause, the tendency to buy and recommend the brand increases. Not enough evidence was found to confirm the influence of charity reputation and charity trust on buyers' behaviors.