Date of Award

2011

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Awarded

Master of Arts (MA)

Program

Communication

Department

Communication

College

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Faculty Advisor

O'Connor, Amy

Description

Millennials make up the largest generation to date and are highly involved in the support of social causes. Due to their philanthropic interests, Millennials have recently become the target of cause-marketing campaigns. Two studies utilizing focus groups were conducted with 70 college students in order to study the Millennial generation's perception of cause-related marketing campaigns. Study 1 focused on Millennials' general perceptions of cause-related marketing. Study 2 examined the Symbiotic Sustainability Model by focusing on Millennials' perceptions of partner number and relationships of a specific NGO (non-governmental organization), Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Focus group data from both studies indicated that Millennials were very familiar with cause-related marketing campaigns and see the marketing on a daily basis. Participants noted that donation amounts, donation methods, partner congruency, and transparency were all important factors in evaluating cause-related marketing campaigns. The participants were optimistic about cause-related marketing in theory. but were resentful of corporations and sympathetic of NGOs in the examples that they gave. Susan G. Komen for the Cure was seen negatively because they were perceived as monopolizing and dominating the cause market. Participants also believed that pink ribbon breast cancer marketing was too common and had negative effects on pink cause-related marketing campaigns.

Rights

NDSU Policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/29602

Download

Share

COinS