Research Article
Understanding Public-volunteered Cause Marketing : Focused on Samsung Guide Dog School’s Program and Volunteers’ Activities
Dankook University
Published: January 2014 · Vol. 18, No. 4 · pp. 1-25
Full Text
Abstract
Over the past two decades, a large body of research has examined ‘corporate-cause association’ in the domain of marketing. The main objective of marketing associated cause (“Cause marketing”) is a mutual benefit of both corporate's managerial performance and public welfare. A recent literature classifies cause marketing into four types, such as cause-related marketing, social enterprise, donation, and public-volunteered cause marketing on the basis of two criteria as ‘the level of profit-orientation’ and ‘activity player (corporate only vs. corporate and public).’ Specifically, this study outlines the concept of public-volunteered cause marketing, its characteristics, and how organizations can benefit from the active and sincere volunteering. The most important characteristic of public-volunteered cause marketing is that the volunteers are core player of the activity as well as corporate. This study examines the fundamental features and value of public-volunteered cause marketing via the Samsung Guide Dog School case study. Samsung Guide Dog School is the only guide dog school in the world which is fully funded by a corporation. The main activity of Samsung Guide Dog School is training guide dogs to help people with vision problems for their independent living in the community. Many people participate in various volunteering programs of Samsung Guide Dog School, such as puppy-walking, home care, and kennel volunteering. This study reviews the activities of volunteers and analyzes how beneficial those are for the reputation of Samsung and it’s cause marketing.
