Abstract: In recent years,cause-related marketing has attracted a great deal of attention due to its positive effects. As an important foothold, consumer purchase has also become a hotspot in the researches of cause-related marketing. However, few studies have focused on the negative effects of cause-related marketing. Based on the theories of tender feeling and moral licensing, this study conducts three experiments. The results show that, compared with no promotion, the cause-related marketing promoted by enterprises has a significant positive effect on consumers’ indulgent behaviors. The sense of tender feeling plays a mediating role in the relationship between the cause-related marketing and the consumers’ indulgent behavior, and this mediating effect should be moderated by the internal moral identity, i.e., the higher internal moral identity would reduce the licensing effect triggered by the cause-related marketing. The research findings can deepen the perception of the impacts of cause-related marketing and offer a theoretical basis to effectively reduce its negative impacts.

Key words: cause-related marketing, sense of tender feeling, consumers’ indulgent behavior;, moral licensing