Cause-Related Marketing Research (1988-2016): An Academic Review and Classification

This study provides an overview of the scholastic literature on cause-related marketing (CRM) during the period 1988-2016. The purpose of this study was to first identify significant knowledge gaps and hence encourage researchers to close the gaps through future studies. Second, the objective was to provide the researchers insights about the constructs examined, theories applied and managerial dimensions addressed. A review of 202 full-length articles across peer-reviewed academic journals, published in the literature for 28 years, was undertaken to provide researchers with a reference guide. A structured approach, to accumulate relatively complete census of articles, was followed, and information was extracted from six major online e-journal databases. Every article was classified by year, journal, country, the methodology used, theories adopted and managerial dimensions addressed. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing was found to publish maximum CRM related articles. Experimental methodology was adopted by large number of research papers. Attribution theory was found to be the most popular theory for understanding the CRM phenomenon. Majority of the articles were found to address the dimension of planning. In contrast to past CRM literature reviews, this paper identified and recorded the theoretical foundations applied to understand consumer behavior towards CRM. Further, the present paper extends the scope of past CRM review studies by examining and discussing managerial dimensions addressed in CRM domain. Implications and agenda for future research are also discussed.