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Understanding consumer responses to retailers' cause related voucher schemes: Evidence from the UK grocery sector

Understanding consumer responses to retailers' cause related voucher schemes: Evidence from the UK grocery sector
Understanding consumer responses to retailers' cause related voucher schemes: Evidence from the UK grocery sector
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present and test a conceptual model for understanding consumer responses to cause related voucher schemes (CRVS), considering the initiatives of two UK-based grocery retailers (Tesco and Morrisons).

Design/methodology/approach
– The conceptual model incorporates six theoretically derived exogenous constructs, i.e. status of the cause, company-cause fit, personal involvement with the cause, attitudes to the company, perceived sincerity of the company and perceived ubiquity. These are hypothesized to influence consumer responses to three primary endogenous variables: interest in the company, favourability of attitudes to the company and use (impact on purchasing intentions). The model is tested using survey data (n=401) collected in two UK cities.

Findings
– All but two of the hypothesized path relationships were confirmed and the percentage of explained variance for the primary endogenous variables compares well against previous models. Attitudes to the company, perceived ubiquity and favourability were identified as significant predictors of behavioural intentions (use).

Practical implications
– In selecting a cause, managers need to think carefully about the status of the cause, its degree of fit with the company and how to build personal involvement. CRVS initiatives should be focused, with consistency in communication. If a company suffers from negative consumer attitudes, a CRVS alone is unlikely to turn around their business performance.

Originality/value:
– The paper represents the first academic assessment of consumer responses to CRVS, introducing and validating a conceptual model.
0309-0566
1931-1953
Gorton, Matthew
c32c7dd8-19b7-48c5-89bc-8adfd63333ca
Angell, Robert
ca8389e4-2a83-43a8-b331-c262eda37674
White, John
c636e743-48a5-481c-ad79-796196cddd44
Gorton, Matthew
c32c7dd8-19b7-48c5-89bc-8adfd63333ca
Angell, Robert
ca8389e4-2a83-43a8-b331-c262eda37674
White, John
c636e743-48a5-481c-ad79-796196cddd44

Gorton, Matthew, Angell, Robert and White, John (2013) Understanding consumer responses to retailers' cause related voucher schemes: Evidence from the UK grocery sector. European Journal of Marketing, 47 (11-12), 1931-1953. (doi:10.1108/EJM-06-2011-0286).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present and test a conceptual model for understanding consumer responses to cause related voucher schemes (CRVS), considering the initiatives of two UK-based grocery retailers (Tesco and Morrisons).

Design/methodology/approach
– The conceptual model incorporates six theoretically derived exogenous constructs, i.e. status of the cause, company-cause fit, personal involvement with the cause, attitudes to the company, perceived sincerity of the company and perceived ubiquity. These are hypothesized to influence consumer responses to three primary endogenous variables: interest in the company, favourability of attitudes to the company and use (impact on purchasing intentions). The model is tested using survey data (n=401) collected in two UK cities.

Findings
– All but two of the hypothesized path relationships were confirmed and the percentage of explained variance for the primary endogenous variables compares well against previous models. Attitudes to the company, perceived ubiquity and favourability were identified as significant predictors of behavioural intentions (use).

Practical implications
– In selecting a cause, managers need to think carefully about the status of the cause, its degree of fit with the company and how to build personal involvement. CRVS initiatives should be focused, with consistency in communication. If a company suffers from negative consumer attitudes, a CRVS alone is unlikely to turn around their business performance.

Originality/value:
– The paper represents the first academic assessment of consumer responses to CRVS, introducing and validating a conceptual model.

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More information

Published date: 11 November 2013

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 426011
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/426011
ISSN: 0309-0566
PURE UUID: 3306197e-877c-4b01-9b00-274d1071e2fa
ORCID for Robert Angell: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8554-2092

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 Nov 2018 17:30
Last modified: 11 May 2024 01:59

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Contributors

Author: Matthew Gorton
Author: Robert Angell ORCID iD
Author: John White

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