Predicting CRM patronage intentions based on Schwartz’s theory of human values: a large-sample study anchored on male fashion leadership

Businesses adopt cause-related marketing (CRM) strategies to align with societal concerns. Human values are crucial in shaping consumers’ responses toward companies that engage in CRM activities. While the non-profit marketing literature is largely focused on exploring the relationship between values and CRM, empirical evidence on the prediction of CRM patronage intentions (CPI) in the context of human values is scarce. This study, rooted in the Schwartz human values theory, focused on understanding the effect of human values on corresponding processes underlying CPI. In addition, we have examined and validated the impact of fashion leadership on human values and CPI by assessing the effects within the sub-groups (high and low fashion leadership). This research addresses the gap in the literature by focusing on the intricate relationship between human values and CPI thereby providing a normalized ranking of the relevant predictors while predicting CPI. A large-scale, robust investigation was undertaken with 2,289 respondents using integrated PLS-MGA-ANN to validate a predictive model that triggers value-based profiling. The results reveal that high male fashion leadership aligning with certain value types (self-direction, universalism, and benevolence) and low male fashion leadership aligning with certain value types (security, tradition, and conformity) had higher patronage towards CRM-associated fashion retailers. This study offers invaluable intelligence to practitioners, non-profit marketers, and fashion marketers for devising value-based profiling and managing pivotal CRM decisions.