This research focuses on analysing the usefulness of an “online brand cause-related communication campaign” to improve attitudes towards the ad, the promoted social cause and the sponsoring brand. The paper contributes to mixed-methods research as quantitative and qualitative tools have been used to measure the effectiveness of the campaign. Firstly, in a quantitative study, three types of viral behaviours were investigated: (i) ad-sharing intention, (i) intention to comment about the promoted social issue and (iii) intention to comment about the brand sponsoring the social cause. Secondly, the content of user-generated comments (about the advertisement, the sponsoring brand, and the social cause) was analysed in a qualitative study.
For the quantitative study, an international sample of 1,232 respondents from Spain, England and Ecuador were exposed to a viral cause marketing campaign of a conscientious brand promoting a social cause: pet adoption. For the qualitative study, 395 comments from Spanish, Ecuadorian and British respondents have been analysed.
The results highlighted important cultural differences in brand-cause viral communication campaigns.
This paper identifies positive content arguments that motivate ad virilisation, and negative content arguments that inhibit ad sharing and intention to eWOM. It also focuses on cross-cultural differences between countries to understand each culture’s idiosyncrasy.
