Eric Block On Responsible Branding

The first male-specific survey in the six-year history of the PRWeek/Barkley Cause Survey has produced surprising results regarding Men’s relationship with Brands that have cause marketing programs – they are influenced by cause marketing at nearly the same rate as women.

The survey polled 4,252 marketing pros and 2,365 consumers and found that:

• 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,
• 55% would pay more for a brand that supported a cause.

While the data indicates that Men direct their dollars to brands associated with causes in high numbers, 68% of corporate marketing executives surveyed said that they had no plans to specifically target men with their efforts.

Although according to the results, there are brands that could benefit from this kind of communication. When asked what companies are not doing as much as they should to associate with causes, the three top answers were BP, Apple and Goldman Sachs.

For the full survey, visit www.barkleyus.com.