Does cause-related marketing work for negative image sponsor?

Cause related marketing has been widely used by many companies with an expectation that it would improve its sales and public image. However, previous literature has not investigated the effect of cause related marketing when a sponsoring company has built negative image in the society. Thus, this study was designed to see if a company with a negative image can be benefitted from such a marketing effort. The magnitude and direction of changes in consumers’ attitudes toward two sponsoring companies with conflicting (positive vs. negative) brand images and toward a sport team were tested using paired t-tests. The results indicated that the subjects’ initial attitude toward the sport team was significantly changed in a positive direction when it was sponsored by a company with positive brand image (i.e., Nike). However, a change of attitude toward the company was not statistically significant. On the other hand, an initial attitude toward a company with negative image (i.e., Kangwon Land Hotel & Casino) improved significantly when it implemented cause-related marketing with a college sport team. However, their initial attitudes toward the sport team aggravated significantly when it was connected to a company with negative image in cause-related marketing.