Advice for Vice Industries: The Case of Stigmatized Products in Cause-Brand Alliances

Carrie S. Trimble, Illinois Wesleyan University
Smeeta Bhattacharya
Sejung Marina Choi, University of Texas at Austin
Nora J. Rifon, Michigan State University

Abstract

An established antecedent of positive consumer response to a cause-brand alliance is the compatibility, often based on a functional similarity, between the cause and the brand. This study tests the effects of patent functional similarity between a cause and stigmatized products, specifically in the alcohol, tobacco, and gambling industries. Path analysis confirmed that consumer perceptions of similarity between the cause and the brand in cause-brand alliance are instrumental to consumer response to an alliance. Previously held consumer attitudes towards the cause and the stigmatized products are found to be equally important to consumer response.