Exploring the consumption of charity-linked products

This paper explores the motivations to consume charity-linked products. We consider charity-linked products as all the consumer goods that may help a social cause or a nonprofit organization. The research was done in Portugal and used focus groups. We find three types of charity-linked product consumers: the proactive consumers which look and buy products that help nonprofit organizations, the reactive consumers which only buy charity-linked products when are asked or see those products when they are shopping, and finally, the nonbuyers that rarely buy charity-linked products. We conclude that the use of salespersons, the availability of the charity-linked product, the impulsive behavior, and the individual perception of the consumer compensation are important factors to be managed by for-profit and nonprofit organizations. The influence of family and other referents and the possibility to give the charity-linked product as a gift to someone else are important motives to buy those products. The research also shows that the credibility of the organizations involved in the cause-related marketing programs, the feedback information about the programs, and finally, the consumer expectations about his contribution to solve social problems also influence the charity-linked products buying decisions.