Corporate Social Responsibility - Where are we now?
published 2006
The jury is definitely out on Corporate Social Responsibility known as CSR.
Companies might think they are doing great things but consumers are still skeptical according to recent research.
Grey Worldwide/Sweeney Research recently released their 2006 Eye on Australia survey looking into consumer attitudes. Some of the key findings included:
- 70% said being a responsible business meant more than making a profit.
- 67% of respondents said that they do not trust large companies and believe they lack morals, ethics and generosity of spirit (an increase of three percentage points on last years survey i.e. less trust)
- 80% said they did not hear much about big business doing good things
- 82% of consumers said companies “give to charity but only do it to look good”
Overall, the picture from Australian consumers was not looking too positive. So how do we compare with our US neighbours on the topic of CSR?
In a recent international survey Rethinking Corporate Social Responsibility 2006 by Fleishman- Hillard/National Consumers League assessed consumer attitudes towards CSR.
Three key findings emerged:
Corporate America receives low marks for its CSR performance
The survey found not only were consumers less than impressed with the CSR records of US companies but 63% said that a company’s record of being socially responsible would be either ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ influential to their decision regarding whether to invest in the company. In addition, consumers most frequently selected ‘being socially responsible’ as the factor most likely to make them loyal followers of a particular brand or company (over areas such as lower price, prestige etc)
Consumers define CSR in ways most relevant to them
The meaning of CSR is still unclear for consumers with 16% stating they ‘did not know at all’ what it meant. The top three explanations for what it meant were: commitment to employees, commitment to communities and providing quality products. More traditional areas such as commitment to the environment and charitable donations are now somewhat less important in the eyes of the consumers compared to showing strong commitment to employees.
Technology is changing the landscape in which consumers gather and communicate information about how well companies are being socially responsible.
Consumers are now more empowered than ever with new media tools such as blogs, wikis and podcasts. Consumers have been turned into influencers and opinion leaders as audience generated content increases on the Internet. Fifty-eight percent of participants said the Internet has made them more informed about whether companies are socially responsible. A high percentage of those consumers are also using the Internet to learn about the extent to which a company is socially responsible (47%)
So as PR professionals what can we take away from both surveys?
CSR still matters to consumers
Consumers still want and expect big business to contribute to CSR. Consumers make decisions whether to invest or buy products based in part on their CSR achievements - CSR is still firmly on the consumer radar.
Communicating your CSR program
There is a clear challenge on how to communicate the involvement of your organisation’s CSR program due to the large amount of cynicism that exists within the community. For example, in the Australian study consumers said they don’t hear much about what big business are doing but they also believe big business only do it to look good. While some organizations have avoided communication because they don’t want to be seen as ‘blowing their own trumpet’, the community still needs the opportunity to learn about the initiatives. Treading carefully will be critical.
The New Media is having an impact
Consumers are actively seeking information on whether an organisation has any CSR programmes and they are using the Internet to find this information. Therefore ensuring that you provide that CSR information in a web-friendly format will be critical. If organisations don’t want to ‘blow their own trumpet’ then web information might be the most subtle way to inform consumers using ‘pull’ communication rather than ‘push’ communication.
Blogs are here to stay. Be sure to include blogs in your monitoring repertoire. It is important to know what your target audience thinks of your CSR program but also what matters to them most.
CSR changes as your consumer does
To make CSR personally relevant to your key consumers you need to assess what matters to your internal and external audiences. As evidenced by the US study - CSR has changed in the minds of consumers over recent years.
Don’t set a CSR program in stone, just like most other PR or marketing programs it needs to stay relevant to that audience. Can you imagine advertising Dishwashing Liquid the same way today as in the 1950’s - the same comparison should exist.
For another perspective on CSR go to Grant's blog for an article written in March 2010:
PR and CSR: Latest USA Awards show they remain uneasy bedfellows |
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