CSR's appeal 'grows on consumers'
Half of global consumers are willing to pay more for goods and services from companies that have implemented programmes to give back to society, an increase of 5 percentage points from 2011, according to a new study from Nielsen.
Willingness to spend more with socially responsible companies increased in 74 per cent of the countries Nielsen measured.
The Nielsen Global Survey on Corporate Social Responsibility polled more than 29,000 Internet respondents in 58 countries. The percentage of consumers willing to pay more increased among both males and females and across all age groups, with respondents under 30 most likely to say they would spend more for goods and services from companies that give back. Among consumers aged 40-44, 50 per cent agree they would pay more, up from 38 per cent two years ago.
“While cause-marketing programmes seem to resonate most strongly among younger respondents, the rapid change in sentiment among middle-aged consumers expands the cause opportunity for brands,” said Nic Covey, vice president of corporate social responsibility at Nielsen.
“Today, brands can confidently focus purpose messaging on both younger and older consumers.”
More than two-thirds of respondents in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia – and three-quarters of those in India – said they would pay more for goods and services from socially responsible companies, whereas European respondents are least likely to pay extra (36 per cent).
“In countries where scepticism toward corporate social responsibility runs high, cause-marketers face an uphill battle,” Covey said. “In these markets, especially, social-impact programmes must be incontestably authentic to a company’s business objectives, vision and values.”
Giving back to society
Nielsen’s information indicates that 43 per cent of global respondents claim to have actually spent more on products and services from companies that have implemented programmes to give back to society (just 7 per cent fewer than those who say they would simply be willing to pay). Consumers in the Asia-Pacific region are most likely to say they had spent more on products and services from socially responsible companies (Thailand, 66 per cent; the Philippines, 64 per cent; Indonesia, 56 per cent).
Several markets indicated a high willingness to pay more for products and services from companies that give back, but lower rates of experience in actually paying more – potentially indicating, according to Covey, “markets that are uniquely ripe for cause-marketing programmes”.
In Slovakia, for instance, 50 per cent of respondents said they would be willing to spend more, but just 22 per cent said they had actually done so. Similar spreads existed in Bulgaria (53 per cent willing, but 31 per cent who had), Peru (62 per cent willing, and 42 per cent who had) and Hong Kong (52 per cent willing but 32 per cent who had).
“Today, the question is not whether consumers care about social impact, but which ones, how much and how to appeal to them,” Covey said. “The answer isn’t necessarily a traditional cause-marketing campaign – general responsibility, sustainable innovation and purpose messaging might also engage these consumers. No matter the approach, savvy brands are figuring out how to hit this nerve.”
The Nielsen Global Survey on Corporate Social Responsibility was conducted between February 18 and March 8 and polled more than 29,000 online consumers in 58 countries throughout Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America. The sample has quotas based on age and sex for each country based on their Internet users, and is weighted to be representative of Internet consumers and has a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 0.6 percentage points.
This Nielsen survey is based on the behaviour of respondents with online access only.
