Perceptions of Ambivalence in Cause-Related Marketing: Exploring the Impact of Mixed Motivational Signals on Consumer Evaluations

Despite CRM's popularity for social contributions and profits, sellers struggle with consumers' mixed views on their motivations. this study gathered 268 survey data to reflect consumers’ understanding of sellers’ motivations for CRM. The current paper uses a polynomial regression model and response surface analysis to reveal that the incongruence between perceived egoistic and altruistic motivation can positively influence consumer evaluations. Meanwhile, the congruence between these two motivational perceptions also enhances consumer evaluation. Moreover, sellers’ function usage behavior can further amplify the positive incongruence effect, but there is no salient moderating role in the congruence effect.