Championing Women’s Empowerment as a Catalyst for Purchase Intentions: Testing the Mediating Roles of OPRs and Brand Loyalty in the Context of Femvertising

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) research indicates that consumers are skeptical of a company’s support of social causes unless they can determine that the efforts are legitimate and authentic. One way companies can demonstrate legitimacy in their CSR efforts is by supporting causes that are perceived to “fit.” The goal of this study is to explore the effects of company–cause fit within the context of the CSR strategy of femvertising. Femvertising is defined as “advertising that employs pro-female talent, messages, and imagery to empower women and girls.” A survey of U.S. adults (n = 419) was employed to investigate consumer attitude toward femvertising as well as four specific femvertising messages as they related to respondents’ perceptions of company–cause fit, CSR associations, and purchase intentions. This study also examined the mediating roles of two related mechanisms – perceived organization-public relationship quality and company loyalty – in connecting CSR associations and purchase intention. The findings suggest that within a femvertising context, purchase intention is impacted by CSR associations and company–cause fit both directly and through loyalty. The findings clarify how company support of women-empowering causes can be an effective CSR strategy and how it fits with the current strategic communication literature.