Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility
Marketers have emphasized how their product benefits consumers beyond its functionality. One method of doing this is through corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is acts that benefit society beyond the legal requirement (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001). This strategy has led companies to fully integrate their positioning strategy around CSR, as evident in the claim by Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes that he is not a CEO of a company but CEO of a movement to improve the lives of children (Mustafa, 2007). Marketing around a brand’s societal benefits has paid off, with 55% of consumers willing to pay more for products and services from socially responsible companies (Nielsen, 2014).
What consumers gain from their purchases has been examined in several contexts, such as pet ownership, online shopping, and catalogs (Mathwick et al., 2001, Holbrook and Woodside, 2008). However, it is unclear what consumers gain from CSR. There is strong conceptual and qualitative evidence, but no clear quantitative proof (Gallarza et al., 2011). CSR’s success depends strongly on its spiritual benefits, which are not apparent in other marketing contexts, such as pet ownership, online shopping, and catalogs (Gallarza et al., 2011). Thus, there is a clear need to examine the benefits derived from CSR and to understand how those benefits compare to spiritual benefits.
