Interesting new research on global cause marketing and CSR programs showing that simply exporting a good cause overseas may not necessarily resonate with local consumers.
Consumers in dominant collectivist cultures, such as India and South Korea, are more likely to support corporate social responsibility, or CSR, initiatives from brands based in their own country as opposed to foreign or global corporations, according to a new study that includes a University of Kansas marketing and consumer behavior researcher.
The researchers found this distinction matters much less to consumers in individualist cultures, such as the United States and Canada.The study’s co-author Jessica Li, assistant professor of marketing in the School of Business, said this research could provide insight to firms seeking to globally expand into developing markets in Asia or elsewhere because their marketing success in the United States might not necessarily translate in a country where consumers practice more collectivist philosophies. According to Li,
Americans are more likely to evaluate CSR independently of whether the company is domestic or foreign, and they’re going to judge things on a value basis. But if I’m a large multinational company in the United States, and I see these altruistic behaviors working well here and I think in opening a new store in Korea, I can practice the same behaviors that will lead to the same positive effects, that’s not necessarily true.
Source: Does corporate social responsibility marketing work? It depends who and where you are