The differential motivation and context effects of cause-related marketing in the hotel industry: The moderating role of consumption value

This study examined the effects of cause-related marketing (CM: when the consumer is both a donor and a buyer) on the hotel industry. It suggests that based on the double-entry bookkeeping model in which consumers consider the benefits and costs of CM products, two kinds of strategic CM messages were proposed: "benefit-focused" and "cost-focused." The findings consequently showed that, for hedonic consumption, consumers have a higher intent to recommend CM products when they receive benefit-focused messages as compared to cost-focused messages; however, the opposite was found for utilitarian consumption. Additionally, factors that motivate consumers to choose CM products were investigated. Specifically, with regard to intent to recommend CM products, the respective mediating effects of guilt and "warm glow" on the interaction between message focus and consumption value were examined. Consequently, warm glow, but not guilt, showed a significant mediation effect in this regard.