Cause-related marketing (CRM) is a globally popular marketing technique due to its value to multiple stakeholders such as the companies, the consumers, the non-profit organizations, and the society. The key to successful CRM is the consumer purchasing the cause-related product, and experimental methodology was adopted mostly during this process. Therefore, this paper systematically reviewed the CRM literature that measured consumers’ purchase intentions using the experimental methodology. A systematic literature research was undertaken examining five databases and 68 qualified articles were identified. The results showed that CRM in most qualified studies is manipulated as a tactical marketing program and the products are mainly low-cost and low involvement. Moreover, the CRM is more effective than the ordinary marketing or sales promotion strategy, such as discount and coupons. Furthermore, the specific characteristics of the CRM program (e.g., donation amount, cause type, message framing) have shown positive outcomes but mixed effects are persistent. Recommendations for implementing CRM programs and for future research were discussed.

In cause-related marketing (CRM) programs, the fit between the cause and brand is an important factor influencing consumer perceptions and behavior. However, the literature demonstrates that there is disagreement regarding the effect of cause–brand fit on consumer responses with varying corporate reputation. This study aims to examine the influence of cause–brand fit on consumer attitudes, attributed company motives, and the moderating role of corporate reputation. With a two (fit: high/low) by three (reputation: low/medium/high) experimental study, we reveal that consumers hold positive attitudes toward companies that engage in CRM campaigns. The effect of cause–brand fit on consumer-attributed company motives is moderated by corporate reputation. For low-reputation companies, a high cause–brand fit CRM campaign resulted in consumers attributing more negative motives to companies than low-fit campaigns. The opposite was true for medium-reputation companies. Meanwhile, high-reputation companies with a high cause–brand fit elicit greater value-driven attributed motives from consumers than other motives. Recommendations for implementing CRM programs and for future research are discussed.

Purpose: The rapid advancement of digital technology has precipitated a paradigmatic shift in organizational knowledge management, giving rise to the construct of knowledge digitization (KD). Grounded in spillover theory and the knowledge-based view, this study aims to investigate whether and how customer KD generates spillovers for upstream suppliers, as well as the transmission mechanisms and boundary conditions governing this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: The study draws on A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges over the period 2009–2023, yielding a final sample of 1,867 annual supplier–customer dyadic observations. Hypotheses are tested using a two-way fixed effects panel data model. Findings: The results demonstrate that customer KD exerts a significant positive spillover effect on supplier total factor productivity (TFP) and that this effect is mediated by knowledge transfer (KT) and knowledge co-creation (KC) between the customer and supplier. Moreover, knowledge distance (DS) exerts a positive U-shaped moderating effect for this effect. Heterogeneity analyses show that the spillover effect is more pronounced among state-owned and large-scale suppliers. Originality/value: This study extends spillover theory into the domain of digital knowledge by demonstrating that customer KD restructures the supply chain knowledge flow regime. It advances KD research from an intra-organizational to an inter-organizational level of analysis, identifies a dual-channel mediation mechanism that distinguishes unidirectional transfer from bilateral co-creation and theorizes a U-shaped boundary condition that reframes DS from a uniform barrier into a new moderator whose effect is overcome by KD’s distinctive properties.