GLOBAL, AUGUST 5, 2013 – Koreans have high expectations of companies’ ethical obligations, particularly their contribution to the national economy through job creation, a survey by Cheil Worldwide has found.
While more than 90% of respondents said companies had to implement ethical management principles, only 16.1% believed this was the case while 28.2% believed companies had kept up with their CSR obligations, underscoring the sizable expectations gap.
Companies can expect a bottomline boost if they are conscientious about their CSR activities since 71.2% indicated they would not buy products from “immoral companies”.
But even then, companies’ CSR activities are largely suspect – 81% believe companies undertake CSR activities only to put on airs, while 51.2% think CSR activities have nothing to do with companies’ identity.
Neither do consumers believe existing CSR campaigns are well designed – 65.3% said few CSR campaigns encouraged consumer involvement, while 62.7% wanted campaigns that engaged consumers over those that involving big money donation efforts.
“In the past, our clients wanted us to position them as ‘luxurious’, ‘cool’, ‘state-of-the-art’ companies. But nowadays, the number one request we receive from our clients is how to position as “good” companies,” said Jeong-keun Yoo, Cheil Worldwide executive vice president.
“They don’t want to ‘pretend’ to be good using advertising or PR – they seriously want to be ‘good’ companies, even though they make less profit. Many companies indeed execute CSR campaigns but few of them are remembered, and even worse, some of them backfire.”
Cheil unveiled the study’s findings to highlight its CSR capabilities, which Yoo said extended beyond simple donation or one-off volunteering.
CSR campaigns created by the agency include the multi-awarded ‘Bridge of Life’, for Samsung Life Insurance to stop suicides at a suicide black spot since suicide accounts for one of the largest pay-outs.
