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Study
shows efforts can backfire if consumers
don’t believe the hype
LONDON,
ON, September 1, 2009 – Companies
walk a fine line between success and
failure when they align their brands
with good causes, according to research
from the Richard Ivey School of
Business.
While
cause-related marketing is on the rise
thanks to growing concern for the
environment, a study on inferences
consumers make about brands shows firms
must tread cautiously with this trend,
according to study author Allison
Johnson, an assistant professor of
marketing.
Missteps
along the way can be disastrous since
altruistic claims are judged more
harshly than other brand claims, Johnson
warns.
"If
consumers see a company's claim as being
opportunistic or not genuine in some
way, it can result in a backlash," she
said.
A recent
example is Yoplait, a popular yogurt
brand. Although the company gave
millions of dollars to breast cancer
research, it was accused of "pinkwashing"
when it became known that its yogurt
contained milk from cows injected with a
growth hormone linked to cancer.
Her study
distinguishes between causes that are
"high fit", such as a toy company
supporting literacy for children, or
"low fit", such as proceeds from a
cleaning product donated to breast
cancer.
While high
fit produces better results when there
are good outcomes, it can be more
damaging if things go wrong.
A related
study from Johnson on how consumers
perceive authenticity in a brand,
especially if there is a corporate
social responsibility strategy, also
cautions about blunders that result in
firms being perceived as dishonest or
copycats. The research was done with
Ivey colleague Matt Thomson, an
assistant professor of marketing.
Both
studies highlight the importance of
firms being seen as honest and doing
what they say they will do.
Details of
the research were released today in the
September edition of impact, an
online monthly publication featuring new
research from faculty at the Richard
Ivey School of Business. To read the
full article, click here:
http://www.ivey.uwo.ca/Publications/impact/Vol15No9-JohnsonA.htm
Jeffrey
Gandz, Professor and Director of Ivey’s
Executive Development program, also
discusses moral character and causes of
the economic crisis in the Faculty Focus
feature. For the full article, click
here:
http://www.ivey.uwo.ca/Publications/impact/Vol15No9-FF-Gandz.htm
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About the Richard Ivey School of
Business, The University of Western
Ontario
The Richard Ivey School of Business at
The University of Western Ontario (www.ivey.ca)
offers undergraduate (HBA)
and graduate degree programs (MBA,
Executive MBA and
PhD) in addition to non-degree
Executive Development programs. Ivey has
campuses in London (Ontario),
Toronto, and Hong Kong. Ivey
recently redesigned its curriculum to
focus on
Cross-Enterprise Leadership â€" a
holistic issues-based approach to
management education that meets the
demands of today's complex global
business world.
For more
information, please contact:
Dawn Milne, Richard Ivey School of
Business, 519-850-2536,
dmilne@ivey.ca
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