5 Ways to Gain South African Gen Z's Attention in Cause Marketing Campaigns

We all treasure being purposeful in our actions. In today’s challenging world, there are many issues that need to be addressed. However, only collective actions can make change happen. Cause marketing has become a rapidly popular strategy used by brands to connect with their audiences and create positive social change. I am studying what South African Gen Z consumers think about these campaigns which has been an uplifting experience.??

Gen Z consumers have bound their souls to sustainability actions. Through my research I have discovered that appealing to Gen Z consumers is not easy and on top of this, brands sometimes create “hallow” cause marketing campaigns. Think about June, when some brands use Pride Month to push rainbow promotional products, without any real social change! (Preston, 2022).

Brands still need help communicating with Gen Zs and they should stop seeing them as “snowflakes”. Here are 5 tips to gain the attention of Gen Z consumers in cause marketing campaigns.

1 – Speak to Their Souls

Sometimes we feel lighter when we do something good. That feeling is called “warm glow” and studies indicate that a special part of our brains (mesolimbic reward pathway) radiates when we do good deeds (Iweala, Spiller, Meyerding, 2019; Huang, 2021). From my research, I have found that Gen Z consumers speak their minds on social issues that concern them. Gen Zs gain a sense of pride from donating to cause marketing campaigns. However, brands should not shy away from giving Gen Zs small tokens of appreciation like donor certificates.

2 – Embrace Their Uniqueness ????

Gen Zs are not all the same and are choosy about which social causes they want to support. Some are climate change activists. Others want to provide food for homeless shelters in their communities. Using the power of the “warm glow” in cause marketing is a good strategy. However, campaigns will be even more successful if consumers believe in a brand’s pledge towards a social cause (Carpenter, 2021; Rodriguez & Bariar, 2022). Gen Zs want to see themselves and their values reflected in any brand’s cause marketing campaign.

3 – Engage with Them

Many campaigns only stick to raising awareness, but Gen Zs desire true engagement. My research has shown me that Gen Zs want to see the progress (or slump) of a brand’s cause marketing campaign efforts. The smartest place to post cause marketing content for Gen Zs is on Instagram or TikTok. Gen Zs love a good challenge, so brands should focus on campaigns where they encourage them to create content to trigger donations towards their favourite social causes. This will make them feel deeply invested in the whole campaign.

4 – *Participation* Matters ?

Sometimes I worry about influencers who use cause marketing campaigns to gain clout. It is true, people in donation campaigns love receiving recognition for their efforts (Zlatev & Miller, 2016). This might sound tasteless but, studies suggest that self-benefiting motivations should not necessarily be ruled out when people donate to social causes (Carlson & Zaki, 2018). In a TED Talk on “Is Selfish the New Selfless”, Jason Sperling mentioned that we live in a time where people are practising selfish giving. This is where people do good things for their own interests. Thus, brands should remember that Gen Zs calculate if a social cause campaign is worth their time.

5 – Avoid “Wishy Washy” Messaging!

Gen Zs can quickly call out nonsense in cause marketing campaigns. This means that brands should know their full story and not ride the wave of popular issues they cannot connect with. Cause marketing agencies in South Africa like [dot]GOOD and Bigger Than Me advice their clients to truly embrace the social causes they want to support, to create honest campaigns.?

I believe Gen Z consumer perceptions towards cause marketing should be researched more. I really encourage brands to go beyond their return on investments and focus on creating real positive change that is needed in our society.

Nyiko Sibusiso Sithole

Strategic Communication Honours Student UJ

Graphics/Picture Source: Freepik

Sources

Carlson, R. & Zaki, J. (2018). Good deeds gone bad: Lay theories of altruism and selfishness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 75: 36-40. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2017.11.005

Carpenter, J. (2021). The shape of warm glow: Field experimental evidence from a fundraiser. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. 191: 555–574. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.09.020

Huang, G. (2021). Does Warm Glow Promote Physical Activity? Examining the Relative Effectiveness of Self-Benefiting versus Other-Benefiting Incentives in Motivating Fitness App Use by Corporate Sponsorship Programs, Health Communication, 36(13): 1719-1730, DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2020.1794548

Iweala, S., Spiller, A., Meyerding, S. (2019). Buy good, feel good? The influence of the warm glow of giving on the evaluation of food items with ethical claims in the U.K. and Germany. Journal of Cleaner Production, 215: 315-328. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.266

Preston, S. (2022). Your Definitive List Of 2022’s Most Cursed Corporate Pride Month Campaigns. Available from: https://www.pedestrian.tv/entertainment/pride-month-corporate-campaigns-ads/

Rodriguez, C. & Bariar, S. (2022). Does Your Cause Fit My “Self”? Self-Expansion and Self-Concept in Cause-Related Marketing. Journal of Marketing and Consumer Research, 85(1):86 -102. doi: 10.7176/JMCR/85-09

Zlatev, J.J & Miller, D.T. (2016). Selfishly benevolent or benevolently selfish: When self-interest undermines versus promotes prosocial behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 137: 112-122. doi: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.08.004?