Abstract
Organisations utilise various approaches, such as cause marketing (CM), to connect with their consumers. In CM, a for-profit entity supports a non-profit organisation (NPO) through consumers' transactional or non-monetary-based (NMB) participation in an activity to achieve organisational goals. CM studies indicate that Generation Z (Gen Z) are sceptical consumers who question brands who associate themselves with social responsibility projects (DoSomething-Strategic, 2019). NPOs in South Africa struggle to find committed volunteers and sustainable supplies of donor funding (Vorwerk Marren, Davis & Williamson, 2024). Should organisations be unable to convince consumers to care about their corporate philanthropic activities, it would result in NPOs not achieving their goals of serving donation recipients in need. Communication strategists consider different campaign structural elements such as donation recipient proximity (local, national or global), magnitude framing (i.e., R5 or five rands) and an appropriate brand-cause fit when designing cause marketing advertising. These different elements influence how consumers perceive CM information. This study used Q methodology to explore how campaign structural elements on Instagram influence Gen Z’s attitudes towards CM in South Africa. A concourse consisting of 100 fictitious Instagram posts was developed using inspiration from current global campaigns. The Q-set of 24 (piloted) cards, derived from the concourse and were arranged using Fisher’s (1960) Balanced Block design. The population sample (P-set) comprised 12 heterogeneous Gen Z participants from diverse backgrounds. The researcher also participated in the study for self-reference purposes. Ken-Q Analysis version (2.0.1) assessed this study’s findings, and a Q factor analysis was conducted using Centroid extraction accompanied by Varimax rotation, resulting in three viewpoints. Viewpoint 1: Keep it Practical had six participants who preferred trustworthy campaigns that were easy to engage in. Viewpoint 2: Stop Tokening Causes had three participants who disliked brands that inappropriately used social advocacy messaging to appeal to their consumers for profit-driven reasons. Viewpoint 3: Aesthetics and Accessibility are crucial; four participants focused on CM campaigns' visual appeal and creativity. The study also developed the Kaleidoscope Research Framework that could enable campaign developers to investigate their subjects of interest from a transdisciplinary perspective that uses a harmonised conceptual approach and enables unique theoretical insight.
Keywords: Campaign Structural Elements, Cause Marketing, Generation Z, Q-Methodology, Instagram