Study says social contribution creates brand loyalty
November 21, 2008 by Katherine Liew
Filed under Marketing
63% of consumers believe that companies spend too much on advertising and should spend it on a worthy cause…
This is just one of the findings to come out of the 2nd annual goodpurpose study conducted recently by Edelman.
In a recession, where companies need to find ways to keep delivering value to retain their customers it’s tempting not to worry about the environment or community projects. However, they might want to keep in mind that 55% of respondents said that even in a recession they would buy brands that support a good cause even if they are not the cheapest.
Even though it’s early days and the recession hasn’t filtered through to the consumer market yet, companies should definitely remember that addressing issues important to their customers can say more about their brand than advertising.
Source: Evolving Choice
Would you be more likely to buy a brand based on their social contribution?
It absolutely looks better when a company gives back to the community or has a really strong ‘green’ way of producing, but how is any consumer going to know the company does those things if the company doesn’t advertise the fact heavily. I doubt the majority of consumers are reading the company’s do-gooder press releases on the internet.
Hi Britt,
Good point – that’s why it’s important that what they’re doing relates to their core business as well. That’s why female-oriented companies like clothing stores or cosmetics chains tend to raise money for breast cancer research – it gets the attention of their target market. Even better, they can make it one of their core values, like the Body Shop has.
More consumers are now getting online to check what companies are doing, and more directories are emerging to help them make choices.
Cheers for the comment!