Cause marketing has traditionally been a program strategy reserved primarily to reach women, and more recently, Millennials. However, results from the new Cause Survey from PRWeek/Barkley indicates that men care about causes too and should not be overlooked as a target audience segment for cause marketing campaigns.

Men are overlooked for cause marketing

The PRWeek/Barkley study surveyed both male consumers and corporate marketing executives and found that men are typically overlooked for cause marketing, yet they are very interested in supporting companies and brands that support a cause, especially one they feel connected to. These results are most surprising because of the similarity between the 2010 men’s responses and the women’s responses from the PRWeek/Barkley survey in 2009. This year, 88% of men indicated that they “believe it’s important for companies to support a cause, compared to the 91% of women that responded the same way in last year’s survey.” Barkley President Mike Swenson believes this increase in support of causes can be attributed to the Baby Boomer generation and their espousal of cause marketing as a legitimate strategy for businesses to connect with consumers. The Millennials then took this idea and modified it from a strategy into a business philosophy —from something we can do into something we must do. Now, two-thirds of brands engage in cause marketing, up from 58% in 2009, with 97% of marketing executives confirming it is a “valid business strategy.”

Causes men support

But, what causes are men supporting? We’ve seen an increase in male celebrity spokespeople over the years, including NFL players that helped support Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. The Cause Survey found that men are most likely to support causes that affect children (20%) followed by general health-related causes (18%) and poverty-related causes (12%).

Men's Preferred Causes

These causes affect men’s buying behavior. Slightly more than two-thirds indicated they would try a new brand because it supports a cause they care about while more than half would pay more for a brand or product that supports a cause that is important to them. However, men also want transparency when it comes to cause marketing. Of those surveyed, 80% want to know where their donations go and the outcomes of those donations. Nearly 70% think this information should be easily accessible, either on the company’s website or on their packaging.

Cause marketers haven’t caught up

Yet even with confirmation from marketing execs and men about the effectiveness of cause marketing, 68% of marketing executives say they have no plans to target men with their cause campaigns. Women are still the most receptive to cause marketing campaigns according to marketing executives, however men have not been a specific target audience which could explain the low response.

Audience Segments

If cause marketing’s audience begins to expand to men on a more consistent basis do marketing executives need to employ different tactics to reach them? Will we continue to see more sports figures and celebrities involved in cause campaigns? The results from the Cause Survey say no. In fact, men are still fairly traditional in their needs. Ads in magazines or on TV would make cause campaigns stand out to more than half of the men surveyed.

How to Reach Men with Cause Marketing

Time to reconsider

As long as men can find a personal connection to a cause we can catch their attention and motivate them to purchase product. So as we move forward into 2011 with new strategies, campaigns, and tactics, we may want to reconsider our target audience segments and not fall into old routines especially when it comes to cause marketing.

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