From donations to devotion: how cause-related marketing frames drive brand evangelism through cognitive and social pathways in hospitality

Purpose Customers increasingly engage in prosocial behavior when purchasing products tied to social causes, but how message framing influences these responses remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the differential impact of gain vs loss-framed purchase-triggered donation (PTD) messages on brand evangelism (BE). It explores the mediating roles of perceived brand social responsibility (PBSR) and altruistic value (PAV) and the moderating effects of cognitive preoccupation (CP) and memory efficacy (ME). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 660 restaurant customers via MTurk using a between-subjects experimental design. Participants were randomly assigned to either a gain-framed or a loss-framed PTD message condition. Data were analyzed using ANOVA for mean comparisons, ANCOVA to control for potential confounds and PROCESS Model 8 and Model 4 to test the hypotheses to examine moderation and mediation effects. Findings PTD gain vs loss framed messages exhibited differential effects on customers’ BE, PBSR and PAV. PBSR and PAV played significant mediating roles, shaping customers’ BE Intriguingly, CP amplified the framing effects on PBSR and PAV, while ME strengthened the link between gain-framed messages and BE. Practical implications Marketers should prioritize gain-framed messages to harness the benefits of BE, especially for customers with high ME Strengthening PBSR and PAV through CP can also turn promoters into evangelists, offering a practical framework for impactful CRM strategies aligned with consumer values. Originality/value Drawing on the elaboration likelihood model and social cognitive theory, this research provides fresh theoretical perspectives on consumer–brand relationships by positioning BE as an outcome variable, a construct rarely explored in cause-related marketing. Furthermore, it advances the understanding of framing effects in CRM by identifying critical mediating (PBSR and PAV) and moderating (CP and ME) mechanisms, expanding their application beyond psychology into hospitality marketing.