CSR survey provides surprising information about young people

Corporate Social Responsibility CSR is is still a relatively new concept and has certainly been in widespread use for less than a decade, despite that it’s growing in importance for just how a company does business whether considering their sourcing, employees, community involvement or internal practices. When researching and writing about CSR  I always had the assumption that the concept and value of CSR was resonating more strongly with the younger generation however a recent survey shows I would be completely wrong with my presumptions.

Toronto-based advertising agency Bensimon-Byrne specialise in conducting polls that trend and survey consumer attitudes in Canada. Their most recent report “The Consumerology Report” has just been published and contains a number of interesting findings. The report itself is a bit more specific than some of the others they publish with particular emphasis toward corporate social responsibility. The report finds quite firmly that a younger person is significantly less likely to choose a product based on a company’s reputation and dedication to corporate social responsibility. Meanwhile that person’s parents to consider CSR far more frequently when making choices as a consumer.

Not only is there a gap between the generations by it gets wider as the gap in age increases. On the survey or 16% of those under the age of 30 felt that the company’s reputation was considered to be ‘very important’ when that individual was making a choice about purchasing a product. At the other intersection the same question results in over 75% finding the same level of importance to reputation if over the age of 55. The results are somewhat stunning as there is a perception that younger people (and often younger voters) have a higher level of concern with issues such as the environment or social justice. I don’t feel perception is entirely wrong, it may be more a case of younger people’s principles not being aligned to the way they consume, shop or select goods and services.

What it does demonstrate is that the thousands of corporations who operate a clearly progressive CSR program may in some sense still be lacking the ability to present this information to their customers and clients.  At face value it appears that there may surprising indifference about CSR dependent on how young someone is however according to an expert at  Narrative Advocacy Media that could be an incorrect interpretation of the study.

“At first glance, the study seems to indicate there’s an ambivalence about CSR among younger Canadians.When we dug deeper, we saw it was a difference in the way they engage with companies.”

She explained that young people are less likely to align their support for a specific cause for concern the way they shop, not that there awareness and involvement is somehow curtailed. She suggests that a younger person is more likely to support a cause by using social media, donating online on making a donation via their phone than realigning their shopping practices. The message this should send to companies looking to expand as a byproduct of their CSR initiatives is that connecting to certain market sectors has to be done digitally as opposed to traditional methods.

There also may be an attached level of skepticism or backlash when a company such as BP who have always advertised in a socially aware way are now considered to be quite the opposite following the disastrous events in the Gulf of Mexico. So much has been written about the company who regularly ranked extremely high in CSR  and the feeling is they have failed in that regard. For many young people BP was the first time the phrase CSR appeared on their radar.

However the overall findings are really rather encouraging; for example over two thirds of all Canadians stated that the reputation a company has significantly impacts the choices they make as a consumer. Also of great interest is that most people felt the most important areas a company can be a better citizen was to have practices that are best for the environment locally and that support local charities.

The full survey was conducted in July and polled 1,500 individuals with a variety of questions concerning CSR.

How do people learn about CSR?