Cause-related marketing and disaster management: A comparative analysis between prevention- and recovery-related campaigns

The study investigates the process that may encourage less-involved consumers to become committed to the cause and thus increase participation intent to cause-related marketing (CrM) campaign. Due to the increasing number of the CrM campaigns promoted within the tourism industry and their common link to disaster-management issue, tourism has been selected as setting of the study. We developed two fictitious campaigns promoted in the hospitality sector and referring to a real disaster-related cause: the Madagascar floods that generate 19 dead and 37,000 displaced in March 2015. One campaign is including a recover-related cause. The other one is including a prevention-related cause. Investigation focuses on the consumers’ behavior of Gen Y, European tourists. According to our knowledge, no previous research compare the efficacy of CrM campaigns developed in order to support a community after the disaster occurrence versus CrM campaigns developed to support a community in order to avoid disaster occurrence. This unique research, through focusing on less-involved consumers, addresses this issue with the aim to better understand consumers’ behavior and to provide new information useful to optimize future CrM campaigns and facilitate fundraising activities able to increase the resilience of vulnerable destinations and communities. We conclude the paper offering a discussion, putting in evidence the managerial implications and highlighting opportunities for further research and limitations of the study.