The Role of Brand Trust in Strengthening Purpose-Driven Marketing Impact on Brand Outcomes

Abstract

Purpose-driven marketing increasingly highlights itself as a significant strategic paradigm, in which brands aim to integrate the objectives of commerce with the concerns of the environment and societal interests. Though there has been more absorption of the concept of purpose-driven programs, the quickly expanding body of scepticism about corporate social endeavors casts doubt on the effectiveness of such programs in influencing brand outcomes favorably. This paper aims to explore the concept of brand trust as the key mediating element between the influence of purpose-driven marketing on brand outcomes. More specifically, the paper aims to explore the concepts of cause-brand congruity, cause-brand authenticity, and self-brand congruity as the most significant factors on which the development of brand trust depends, influencing brand outcomes on the dimensions of brand image, the intention to make a purchase, and the intention to recommend. Additionally, the paper will explore the role of the moderating variable of consumer-cause congruity on the development of brand trust. A quantitative design was used with the help of surveys among adult consumers in the Pakistani market. The proposed conceptual framework was used to analyze the results with the help of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results indicate that the three antecedents: cause-to-brand congruity, authenticity, and self-to-brand congruity positively affect brand trusts significantly. Brand trusts positively affected consumer behavioural intentions and brand image significantly and played a significant mediating role in the relationship among purpose-driven marketing perceptions and brand outcomes. Moreover, consumer-cause congruity positively reinforced the association between purpose perceptions and brand trusts. The paper makes a contribution to the literature by empirically demonstrating that brand trust plays a pivotal mediating role in translating purpose-driven marketing into branding success. In practical terms, its findings underscore the mediating roles of authenticity, alignment, and trust in crafting successful purpose-driven marketing strategies.

Keywords: Purpose-driven marketing, brand trust, cause-brand congruence, brand authenticity, self-brand congruity, consumer-cause congruence, brand image, purchase intention, recommendation intention, consumer skepticism, purpose-washing, corporate social responsibility (CSR).