Ethical consumption

[ethics01]

Dear all,

My name is Linden Reekie and I am a postgraduate student studying an MSc in International Management at King's College London. I am currently undertaking Dissertation research into ethical consumption in relation to ethical marketing strategies of major food brands in the UK and US.

Consumers play a pivotal role in the extent to which brand marketing strategies are successful. Therefore, I am interested in gaining insight from consumers about their perceptions and awareness about ethical issues in business in general; the food industry in particular and, later, about specific high-profile brands' ethical marketing strategies. Those participating can contact me for an information sheet further detailing this research.

I would like to begin the discussion by asking:

What does the term Corporate Social Responsibility mean to you?

[bruce]

Hello to you too

CSR to me is something companies do for marketing purposes.

[change881]

I think that Corporate Social Responsibility is similar to Carbon Credits...they are just buzzwords that are used to fool people.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by ethics01

I would like to begin the discussion by asking:

What does the term Corporate Social Responsibility mean to you?

Hello Linden, and welcome to the forum.

There is a vast amount of information and definitions as to what "Corporate Social Responsibility" is supposed to mean in theory (internalising externalities......, etc) and operational practice.

But its real world meaning or significance is more about "business survival" - i.e., adaptation by the corporate entities to what they may see as emerging consumers expectations, most recently "green market" as a consumer response to the most recent re-emergence of concern for environment, climate change, ethics etc. and the closely-related worsening of resource issues such as food prices, energy crisis etc.

The whole idea of social responsibility reporting by corporations is nothing new, it has been around (by one name or another) since the 1970's. But in the past, the element of less public pressure (as well as less-defined legislation) restricted the scope of these activities / reports.

A very interesting element is that there are reports of increasing consumer skepticism towards advertising of "green products and services". So hopefully all these new CSR initiatives will assist some of these companies in addressing those developments, since they seem to represent higher skepticism to the corporate "environmental messages" as opposed to an actual lessening of concern for environment.

Anyway, have a look around the forums here, I am sure you will find much information and discussions of interest to your field of study.

Regards,
Karl

[scott1981]

Hello everyone! This is my first time to this site and have enjoyed what I've read so far. I'm interested in ways that I can help protect the environment, so I thought I'd give the internet a try as a way to find out more.

It's good to see so many people interested in these topics. I've never had much interest in 'digging into' environmental issues before recent months. I've been doing small things for years, such as picking up cans, bottles, etc when I'm out enjoying what God gave us. It's sad, and frustrating, to see how we've treated the earth. Gas-guzzling SUV's, littering, etc, etc. What will it take for everyone to realize the harm that we are doing.

I keep hearing a lot of discussion on global warming lately, both from people that say it's happening and from skeptical people. To me, I don't think it matters if you believe in it or not. It simply comes down to the fact that we should be more responsible for the environment.

I look forward to more visits to this site, and I hope that we can all learn from each other.

Scott

[include]

Hi Scott, post your own intro thread mate, not really good form to jump in onto someone elses topic with unrelated stuff

[scott1981]

Sorry, new to the whole online discussion thing!

[macgardener]

I think CSR is doing the RIGHT thing, not just whatever makes the greatest profits for the CEO and shareholders. I'm sure there are example of companies out there with strong and visionary leadership that take it seriously but I feel much of it is just a marketing exercise.

[ethics01]

Thank you for your comments so far. Remaining on the subject of CSR, then, how important do you think CSR is in the food industry in particular, and to what extent do you think it is imperative that companies in the food industry are socially responsible?

Linden Reekie

[CRTreeDude]

My view to this is simple: The sole purpose of a business is NOT to make money for the investors. If a business does not participate in society as a good neighbor but merely as a carpet bagger, it has no right to exist in a world of shrinking resources.

Of course a business must turn a profit, but its pursuit of profit cannot be while sacrificing the people of the community. The people of the community have the right to reject any business that they do not feel is of the best interest of the community.

This is not to say that a business is a charity, only that it can't function like a robber or a leach on society. We should not have welfare companies, unless those companies provide a critical service.

Otherwise, the citizens are merely cannon fodder for the use of whatever company is the strongest.

And, I am a business owner, just in case you were wondering. Pretty successful too, in case you were wondering if this actually works.

What I have found is that if you are a good neighbor to the community, they are to you as well. When we all work together, we all win. Only short-sighted greedy decisions look better if you aren't a good neighbor.