How brands can succeed communicating social purpose: engaging consumers through empathy and self-involving gamification

Expectation for how brands succeed communicating a social cause is gaining salience in today’s interconnected and increasingly vocal environment. To address this topic of interest, this study presents and tests an integrative theoretical framework for consumer–brand identification from both a social identity and consumer engagement perspective. It articulates the conditions under which consumers are likely to identify with a brand that communicates social purpose and how that identification process can be enhanced through empathy and self-involving gamification. Findings from two field experiments reveal that (1) value and attribute attractiveness of a brand have a positive impact on consumer–brand identification, and (2) in turn they will increase consumers’ extra-role behavioural intention; and (3) engaging consumers using empathy and selfinvolving gamification enhance the identification process. The results were replicated and confirmed in an online and a laboratory experiment employing different brand contexts. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.