How can game companies with cause-related marketing effectively guide players to engage in prosocial behaviors while simultaneously enhancing brand loyalty?

This study investigates how game companies employing cause-related marketing (CRM) can effectively guide players in participating in prosocial behavior while simultaneously enhancing brand loyalty. We developed a comprehensive model based on self-efficacy transfer, excitation transfer, and affect-as-information theories and collected 826 valid samples from two groups of players: with and without enhanced pride in helping others. We used structural equation modeling and statistical analysis to test the model. Results demonstrated that in games incorporating CRM, players' pride and self-efficacy in gaming influence their pride and self-efficacy in helping others, respectively. Additionally, social interactions in the game environment boost helping self-efficacy. The study reveals that helping self-efficacy, instead of helping pride, positively influences prosocial behavior and brand loyalty. Notably, we discover that enhancing helping pride negatively impacts brand loyalty. We anticipate that the discoveries derived from this study will offer contributions to gamers and companies, facilitating a positive societal impact through the digital realm.