A Positive Outlook for Social Purpose
This post is part of a regular, ongoing series by Kristian Darigan Merenda that digs further into the goodpurpose study findings. To view the previous post, please click here. For a complete list of posts authored by Kristian, please click the above byline.
Last year, we conducted our fifth annual global consumer study to help uncover new ways to improve the way business integrates and demonstrates its Purpose. Our study revealed that citizen stakeholders are making purpose more personal and social activism a higher priority.
Specifically, the results showed interesting statistics regarding the need for business and social purpose to blend. Out of the respondents varying across 16 different countries, we discovered that more than 8 in 10 found it important for business to address societal issues. In the United States, 69% said they trust a company that actively supports such problems. Globally, 63% of respondents shared that opinion. In 2013, we believe those numbers will continue to grow based on what we are seeing in the market place, as well as in some terrific recent research reports from Shift, Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and BBMG, among others.
Another noteworthy finding in last year’s study was the return on investment a business can get from supporting social issues. That is, a company that invests in this support and makes the public aware of those activities will likely see a greater ROI in terms of customers buying their products. In fact, 73% reported that they would switch brands if a different brand of similar quality to their usual choice supported a good cause. That shows a significant increase from the past few years that and evidence demonstrates its continued rise in the year to come.
And, shockingly, in our study 8 in 10 people globally reported that they would be more likely to purchase a product from a company that supports good causes and has fair prices than a company that simply offers discounts. This number has jumped +12% since the prior poling. This changing belief system is intriguing, but is it sustainable in 2013? I hope so!
One final surprising statistic from our work in 2012 showed that stakeholders do not expect businesses to sacrifice profit in order to support a cause. More specifically, 76% of global respondents said it was okay for a company to earn a profit and support a cause.
Certainly, 2012’s positive results and continued momentum for purpose-driven cause efforts into 2013 are heartening. However, we know there is only one factor we can truly rely on, and that is change. On that note, we are in the midst of planning our newest study and eager to evaluate progress against these metrics and more in 2013. If you have questions and/or topical areas you’d like to see us explore in our 2014 edition of the Global goodpurpose® Study, speak up! We’d love to hear from you…and there’s no better to time to start thinking about the future than the present!
This post is produced by B+SP’s Corporate Citizenship Center of Excellence, a team of experts, idealists and actionists committed to driving mutual benefit for business and society through the development and support of purpose-driven corporate citizenship efforts.
