The impact of cause marketing on quality of life : repertory grid revisited

The objective of this research is to gain insight into the impact on an individual from actively participating in a cause marketing initiative. Whilst there is a rich literature exploring commercial impacts of cause marketing initiatives, there is very little on impact to the individual's well-being. Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) was used to elicit semi-structured discourse to explore the theoretical argument that active participation in a cause marketing initiative leads to an enhanced quality of life. This paper demonstrates the efficacy of the RGT as an approach to enhance our understanding of the individual experience. The technique allows the informant to reveal unique personal constructions of an experience, with minimal interviewer bias. The authors interviewed seven executives who had participated in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. From the RGT the authors identified seven salient value statements which can be incorporated into future interviews. RGT combined with the reflections of informants provides enhanced quality data on the nature of the processes of participation and how these impact quality of life.