Cause marketing wins with men; majority of brands yet to respond

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The first survey of men in the six-year history of The PRWeek/Barkley Cause Survey has uncovered surprising data regarding men's attraction to brands that have a cause marketing program. Running contrary to the natural assumption that women are solely attracted to cause programs, 88% of men say it's important for a brand to support a cause, 61% have purchased a brand because it supported a cause, 67% would try a brand because it supported a cause, and 55% would pay more for a brand that supported a cause. For the full survey, visit www.barkleyus.com.

"The Boomer generation has carved out the path toward looking at cause marketing as an important way to connect with consumers," said Mike Swenson, President, Barkley Public Relations. "But even more so do Gen X and Gen Y Millennials, who view it as something that must be done. That's why we're seeing the numbers we do with men. It's no longer a gender issue."

While men overwhelmingly direct their dollars toward cause, 68% of corporate marketing executives say they have no plans to target men with their cause efforts. This at a time when there has been an explosion of cause efforts. 75% of brands now engage in cause marketing (up from 58% in 2009) and 97% of marketing executives believe it to be a valid business strategy.

One of the most interesting findings of this year's survey came in the verbatim answers from consumers. When asked to identify companies that are not doing cause programs but should be, the most common consumer responses were BP, Apple and Goldman Sachs.

While men care about cause nearly as much as women, there were distinct differences between the two. When it comes to which causes they support, men chose children/education and women chose health (per 2009 Cause Survey data). Yet when it came to health, 94% of men said they were comfortable supporting causes that addressed prostate cancer, AIDS or heart disease.

About the PRWeek/Barkley Cause Survey:

The PRWeek/Barkley Cause Survey was conducted by CAWalker from August 12-23, 2010. E-mail notification was sent to approximately 4,252 marketing pros and 2,365 consumers. A total of 79 PR and marketing pros and 536 male consumers completed the survey online. The results are not weighted and are statistically tested at a confidence level of 90%. This article offers only a summary of findings.

About Barkley:

Barkley is the largest employee-owned agency of its kind. Founded in 1964, the company has 275 partners offering a full range of marketing communications services including advertising, public relations, cause branding, brand activation, relationship marketing, social media, design, media planning and buying, motion graphics, research and interactive marketing. Barkley has offices in Kansas City, St. Louis and Pittsburgh, with additional field offices across the nation. More info: www.barkleyus.com and www.barkleyREI.com.

SOURCE Barkley

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