The Appeal of Responsibility
Consumers are eager to make a social impact with their buying decisions
--
One of the most vital groups of stakeholders within any business are its patrons. Thus, the primary goals of most organizations align with marketing goals put in place to attract, retain, and keep customers satisfied. In addition to these customer goals, businesses often struggle with their level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. Organizations spend a lot of time and money to analyze how implementing CSR impacts financial performance goals and profitability. Many managers address the social impact and CSR with major biases that result from a fundamental misunderstanding of how CSR activities impact consumer decision making. These biases often rest on the “understanding” that CSR initiatives associated with social enterprises are expensive and that their benefits are dwarfed by their costs. This leads to a major missed opportunity that often is overlooked by these companies: the positive effect that social responsibility has on consumer buying behavior.
The most common argument from forward-thinking advisors in business strategy for aligning organizational values with CSR is that consumers prefer to buy from socially responsible companies. In a 2015 Cone Communications/Ebiquity Global CSR Study, one of the key findings of the research directly backs this idea up. Research showed that consumers globally not only want companies to adopt CSR business practices but that 90% expect companies to do that. These expectations create an atmosphere that is difficult to ignore today and its impact is highly noticeable in the public discourse.
With the easy dissemination of information thanks to social media and the internet, we live in an age where consumer access to information is easier than it has ever been. Today’s consumer can easily seek information about the companies that they are interested in patronizing and often will choose one company over another based solely on responsible and sustainable business practices. Even when consumers are not going out of their way to learn about specific companies, the prevalence of social networks and online news makes it increasingly easy for a consumer to see both news stories lauding an organization for its commitment to responsibility or sharply criticizing companies that fall short on CSR practices. Additionally, measures such as certification systems that allow for consumers to better differentiate between the product or the service that makes a positive social impact and less responsible competition have increased in prevalence. That same Cone Communications CSR study indicates that in situations where customers have the information or ability to choose between two similarly priced products, 90% will patronize the brand that is perceived to be better in CSR practices.
This increase of buying power translates into real enthusiasm when making purchase decisions and effectively allows consumers to make buying choices that they believe in. What the research has clearly shown time and again is that when consumers can make that vote and make intelligent buying choices, they will choose the company and the products that are produced with care to all stakeholders throughout the supply chain.
Sources:
http://blog.optimy.com/csr-impact-consumers/
https://www-statista-com.ezproxy.neu.edu/statistics/319950/csr-effect-purchase-decision-age-usa/.
