How do consumers see the social commitment of companies? A study has investigated the question and examined the expectations of German and US consumers.
The behavior of customers and consumers is changing. Today’s customer is, among other things, self-confident, price-sensitive, service-oriented and networked. Studies on current trends and developments in customer behavior can be found in the bank blog.
Social commitment presents companies with special challenges. Do you win customers with a clear edge or do you tend to lose them. A representative study by Wider Sense asked German and US consumers about their expectations of corporate social responsibility.
With the results, the authors want to encourage companies in Germany and the USA to reconsider their role in a democratic society as a whole and to ask themselves the question of their own corporate social mindset.
Majority of consumers expect social commitment
According to this, 58 percent of those surveyed believe that the providers of products and services from which they buy something should be socially committed. When asked whether companies should also take a social or political stance and actively advocate for it, 44 percent answered “yes”.
The authors of the study advise companies to have a clear corporate social mindset. This refers to a number of specific characteristics that a company must demonstrate in order to effectively initiate social change.
Idealism versus Realism
The study also examined the consequences of the energy crisis on consumer purchasing behavior. When asked how the currently rising energy prices have influenced German consumers in their consumption, 50 percent of those surveyed stated that they are now paying more attention to the prices of products, while 30 percent stated that there is a strong influence and that these are now affecting have to resort to less expensive products. Only 17 percent of German consumers are still buying the same products, regardless of the crisis.
The consequences of the increased prices are particularly evident in relation to sustainable, socially acceptable products: 40 percent of those surveyed have spent less money on them since the beginning of the energy crisis. According to the study, however, the majority of German consumers are still willing to dig deeper into their own pockets for companies to get involved.
Animals, hunger and the climate are in the foreground
The consequences of inflation and increased energy prices, which American families, but especially German families, are also confronted with as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, have also changed the social issues that consumers are committed to.
Subject areas that are particularly important to German consumers:
- animals and animal rights,
- Hunger,
- combating the climate crisis,
- immigration and refugee issues,
- Human rights, discrimination and social justice.
In the US, hunger is number one and fighting the climate crisis is number three. A constant difference from Germany is the relevance of gun rights to US consumers. While the issue has been in the top 5 in the US for the past two years, gun rights are generally less important to Germans.
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