Success Factors of Cause-Related Marketing in Germany Nina Langen Department of Agricultural and Food Market Research, University of Bonn, Institute for Food and Resource Economics, Nussallee 21, 53115 Bonn, Germany. E-mail: nina.langen@ilr.uni-bonn.de Carola Grebitus Morrison School of Agribusiness and Resource Management, Arizona State University, 7231 E. Sonoran Arroyo Mall, Mesa, AZ 85212. E-mail: carola.grebitus@asu.edu Monika Hartmann Department of Agricultural and Food Market Research, University of Bonn, Institute for Food and Resource Economics, Nussallee 21, 53115 Bonn, Germany. E-mail: monika.hartmann@ilr.uni- bonn.de ABSTRACT Cause-related marketing (CrM) campaigns are increasingly used by firms as a marketing tool to promote and differentiate their products from those of competitors. Nevertheless, little is known about consumers’ attitudes, knowledge, and perception regarding CrM campaigns and the communication channels they use to learn about CrM. In this article the authors focus on the role of these and other success factors such as cause–brand fit and product fit influencing German consumers’ willingness to buy a CrM promoted product. Results from a consumer study provide evidence that consumers in general hold positive attitudes towards CrM, but that these are not strongly reflected in intended or actual purchase behavior. Based on factor and cluster analyses the authors derive marketing recommendations for companies on how to effectively address different consumer segments regarding the CrM products. We identify four groups of consumers that differ in their attitudes towards CrM products. While some consumers appreciate CrM products, others are more critical towards the concept of CrM. [JEL Classifications: M310, Q13]. C  2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1. INTRODUCTION In the saturated and highly competitive food market in industrialized countries consumers can afford to be critical as to which product to choose. Thus, differentiating products to satisfy con- sumers’ needs and create “customer value” for differing consumer segments is vital for firms to be successful. One opportunity for companies to differentiate their products is by means of communicating the environmental and/or ethical benefits related to the production or con- sumption of a product or of a firms’ overall strategy via product labels (Ponte, Richey, & Baab, 2009; Richey & Ponte, 2011; Siegel & Vitaliano, 2007; Zimmermann & Van der Lans, 2009). Previous studies have revealed that consumers value societal benefits such as environmental impact, ethics, and animal welfare supported by companies in addition to those attributes di- rectly linked to the specific product under consideration (BVE & GfK, 2011; Edelmann & The Consumer View, 2011; GfK, Berger, & BVE, 2009; Langen, 2011; Otto Group Trendstudie, 2011; SevenOne Media, 2009). In this regard the Brands & Values Ethical Brand Monitor R  , which uses the “ethical brand value” to describe the impact of ethical factors on brand image and consumers’ preferences for the brand has demonstrated that German consumers prefer brands they perceive as sustainable. The monitor further indicates that the social, ecological, and economic responsibility of a firm as well as its code of conduct influence brand image and consumers’ trust in the brand positively. Higher trust leads to increased purchase intentions for brands and results in a perceived ethical brand value that is relatively stronger (Dr¨ oge & Blumberg, 2009). The rise in sales volumes of organic and Fair Trade products reveals that grow- ing environmental and social awareness encourages consumers to choose the environmental or ethical substitute for a regular good (GfK, 2007; Transfair, 2011). For instance, the enlarged number of Fair Trade products offered in Germany is evidence of corporations’ efforts to meet Agribusiness, Vol. 29 (2) 207–227 (2013) C  2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/agr). DOI: 10.1002/agr.21331 207