Studies: Cause Marketing Increases Sales

Pier 1 Imports and Payless are likely to get a sales lift from their partnerships with Susan G. Komen for the Cure during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A series of new studies released today show that consumers are more likely to purchase brands that are associated with causes they care about.

"The 2008 Cone Cause Evolution Study" found that almost 80 percent of respondents said they would switch brands (provided price and quality were equal) to the one that is associated with a good cause. Cone, Boston, polled 1,100 adults online in August.

Eighty-five percent of respondents said they have a more positive image of a company when it supports a cause they care about. The same percentage said it was acceptable for companies to promote their affiliation with nonprofit organizations in their ads. And 38 percent have purchased a product associated with a cause in the last year.