Social Responsibility Part III
May 19, 2008
Part III
Consumers React
Two years ago, SELF magazine partnered with Latitude Research to learn what consumers really think about cause marketing. "We wanted to learn more ourselves, while knowing that our marketing partners could also use this information," says Kimberly Kelleher, vp and publisher. Key findings of the survey, which canvassed 1,700 women:
• 70 percent said purchasing products from "good" brands makes them feel they're socially responsible. "It's providing her with a huge emotional benefit," says Cynthia Walsh, executive director of marketing, who developed the survey.
• 71 percent felt "good" purchases let them support a cause without much effort, taking it off a to-do list. "Women have always been multitaskers," Walsh says. "Now they want to see their dollars multitasked as well."
• Respondents were willing to pay 6.1 percent more for a brand affiliated with a "good" message. "Companies measure how much people pay for loyalty and awareness," Walsh says. "This can be layered on top of those findings-putting a 'good' message on top of the loyalty value -and a brand could be worth 10 percent more in the consumer's eye."
• Positive response rates to "good" ads were far higher than to traditional ads. "Cause marketing ads really did change consumers' perceptions of companies," says Walsh. While you don't want to walk away from the functional benefits of traditional advertising, this approach adds a new level of emotional connection- a humanizing effect."
• 32 percent expect companies to do good things now; however, 85 percent hope that companies will eventually get more involved in good causes. "We see that gap closing rather quickly," says Kelleher. "Right now, it seems like we're at a tipping point for companies to make a statement in this space."
Since releasing the survey last fall, SELF has been putting its research into action. In April, the magazine asked readers to nominate "Women Doing Good," a program that rewards four winners with $10,000 each for their initiatives.
As any marketer knows, the biggest challenges to any CSR initiative are consumer inertia, skepticism and simple lack of time. As Snow says, "Everyone is overextended, trying to do too many things at once. So you have to make a commitment and build it into your priorities."
Then come the basics: setting objectives, building consensus among employees, shareholders and other stakeholders, preparing the message and measuring results.
It's a tall order-but it doesn't have to be all-consuming. "Start small, and ramp up," says Kelleher. "Let things build over time. And if you make mistakes, at least they'll be smaller ones."
After all, the big issues aren't going to go away any time soon. "We see continued momentum throughout the green space," says O'Neill. "And we all need to invest ourselves in long-term solutions."
For more Social Responsibility coverage:
Part I: How Media and Brands Are Making a Difference
Part II: Reputation Matters
Part III: Consumers React
