Cause-related marketing (CRM) has experienced remarkable growth over the past few decades, especially in the hospitality industry. However, concerns have arisen regarding performative CRM allyship, where companies engage in visible public support for a cause without costly actions. Little research has investigated how average consumers respond to such performative allyship. Additionally, while celebrity endorsement has been extensively studied in the context of product marketing, its influence on socially oriented communications remains understudied. Across two pilot studies and three scenario-based experiments, this research defines and differentiates true and performative CRM allyship. Study 1 shows that consumers fail to identify the inauthenticity embedded in performative CRM and hold similarly positive perceptions of true and performative CRM initiatives. Study 2 and Study 3 explore the impact of celebrity endorsements in CRM initiatives and the underlying mechanisms. Two boundary conditions, endorser type (traditional celebrity vs. social media influencer) and endorser-cause fit (expertise vs. experience), are examined to show when performative CRM is justifiable or unacceptable.

中文翻译：

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真正的或表演性的盟友关系：寻找与事业相关的营销真实性的感知问题


公益营销 (CRM) 在过去几十年中经历了显着的增长，尤其是在酒店业。然而，人们对绩效型 CRM 盟友关系产生了担忧，即公司无需采取昂贵的行动即可获得公开的公众支持。很少有研究调查普通消费者对这种表演性盟友关系的反应。此外，虽然名人代言在产品营销的背景下得到了广泛的研究，但它对面向社会的传播的影响仍然没有得到充分研究。通过两项试点研究和三项基于场景的实验，本研究定义并区分了真正的绩效型 CRM 联盟。研究 1 表明，消费者无法识别绩效 CRM 中嵌入的不真实性，并且对真实的绩效 CRM 计划持有类似的积极看法。研究 2 和研究 3 探讨了名人代言对 CRM 计划的影响及其潜在机制。检查两个边界条件，即代言人类型（传统名人与社交媒体影响者）和代言人事业契合度（专业知识与经验），以显示表演式 CRM 何时合理或不可接受。