Brand Authenticity’s Influence on Charity Support Intentions

ABSTRACT

We contribute to the nonprofit marketing and branding research streams by, treating a charity as a brand, investigating the influence of a brand attribute, brand authenticity, on a bundle of important nonprofit marketing outcome variables or support intentions (donations, volunteering, word-of-mouth referrals, and bequests). Additionally, we investigate the mediating influence of consumer-brand identification on brand authenticity’s influence on our supporter outcome variables. The potential moderating effects of respondents’ attitudes toward helping others and their gender on the relationship between brand authenticity and our supporter outcomes. Using an online survey approach (n = 499), we found that brand authenticity has a direct effect on support intentions. Brand authenticity also has an indirect effect on support intentions through its influence on consumer-brand identification (a mediator), which influences support intentions. Individuals’ attitudes towards helping others (but not gender) moderated the effects on brand authenticity on support intentions. Managerial implications and areas for further research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Bequest
• brand authenticity
• charity support
• donation
• volunteering
• WOM

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Lethbridge.