It’s a small world: Managing global sustainability messages
As the size and power of big business continues to increase, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on the different perceptions of major corporations in the developed and developing world. The expectation of global companies to act responsibly in all the markets in which they operate is by no means a new phenomenon in the world of business. The trials of Nike, or the criticism directed at Nestlé over baby milk in the developing world, highlight our concerns about global standards, and the impact of perceived actions in faraway places on the reputation of companies closer to home. This phenomenon shows no sign of abating, and the communication channels available to pressure groups - and individual critics - will ensure a continuing flow of challenges. But results from a new global study give us more food for thought.
It is often assumed that good company behaviour is a higher priority for people in the developed world than in developing markets. However, results from Ipsos MORI's new global corporate responsibility research, encompassing the opinions of c.1,000 online citizens in each of 23 countries[1], reveal a richer state of affairs.
Three-quarters of the online public across the world say that the social responsibility of companies is important to their purchasing decisions, including 31% who say it is very important. People put even more emphasis on their own employer being responsible to society and the environment - 86% of workers say this is important (of which 41% say it is very important). Across the world, the environment is rated the most important issue for companies to attend to - in all the 23 markets surveyed, ‘protecting the environment' is singled out as either the top or second priority from a list of 17 social, community and other causes.
As the survey includes only online citizens, respondents will tend to be relatively higher social status in countries with low internet penetrations (such as emerging markets) than in countries with higher internet penetrations. The views of this elite group are important as they can give us an insight into the emerging consumer consciousness in those markets.
Corporate responsibility is actually a more important factor in purchasing for the online public in emerging markets than for the on-line public in more developed markets. Since fewer people can afford online access in emerging markets, we are talking to a social elite here - and in all parts of the world we find that those of higher social status are more likely to consider company behaviour when purchasing, since they can most afford to consider factors other than basic price, product quality and service delivery. Thus we see the online (elite) public in markets such as China, Turkey, India, Mexico and Brazil giving the highest level of importance to company responsibility when purchasing. But it is worth noting that Russia bucks the trend - this is one emerging market where the on-line elite seem notably less concerned about corporate behaviour in their purchase decisions.
In the more developed markets (where more people are online, resulting in a more mass-market sample), the importance of corporate responsibility to purchase tends to be lower. Nevertheless, the on-line public in Singapore and South Korea give corporate responsibility particularly high priority in their purchasing, whereas those in Belgium and Czech Republic are markedly less concerned. These differences are important for companies to bear in mind in any multi-country communications campaign.
[1] Ipsos interviewed 23,306 adults with internet access, online, across 23 countries in October 2007
Focusing on each of the major emerging markets in turn, in Brazil responsibility issues are high in importance to consumers and employees - and this is one of the markets with the highest expectations that companies should do more (particularly on the environment). The online public in India also attaches relatively high importance to company responsibility and has fairly high expectations of companies doing more (although not quite as high as in Brazil).
In Russia, corporate responsibility is lower priority, although the majority (61%) want companies to pay more attention to the environment. In China, the importance of company responsibility is relatively high, although only around a quarter say it is very important that their employer is responsible to society and the environment. In China, improving health is ranked as the third highest priority for companies to contribute to, after the environment and unemployment.
Another important finding from the study shows that only a third of the online public across the world would trust CEOs to tell the truth when they make statements about their company or industry. Trust is generally higher in emerging markets, with the highest level of trust in CEOs seen in India (63%) and Russia (53%). Given this low trust in business leaders, companies could do well to utilise other channels to support their messaging. But who do people trust?
A range of research has highlighted the increasing reliance on those close to us, rather than institutions and authority figures. "A person like me" is no longer limited to someone you actually know in the ‘real' world - the growth of online communities such as MySpace and Facebook mean your social network is now much wider than it would have been even a few years ago. Company take-up of blogging as a communications instrument (with varying levels of success) highlights this new era of democratised, person-to-person communication. With increased scrutiny of companies and instantaneous global communications, it is vital that messages around sustainability and corporate responsibility are consistent globally, while remaining relevant locally.
Good information about what matters to those who engage with your company is essential, so that you can work towards meeting their expectations - and make it clear you are doing so. This can build a relationship of trust with these important stakeholders, yielding good word of mouth advocates for it, which in turn can influence wider goodwill towards the company. This is true whether you are working in China, Turkey or the US. As our research shows, the differences between key consumer groups across the globe do not necessarily follow the patterns you might expect, as the boundaries between the developed and developing worlds become ever more permeable. In an increasingly globalised, networked world, knowing what is on people's minds will keep you ahead of the competition. Sustainability is likely to remain a key issue for the foreseeable future and trust in multinationals may well remain relatively low, so it is worth exploring the changing expectations of consumers in each of your markets, to fully understand how they would like to see your organisation respond.
For more information on this article, please contact Janette Henderson (janette.henderson@ipsos-mori.com} or Anne Harris (anne.harris@ipsos-mori.com)
The next wave of the Global Corporate Responsibility Study will be in October, for more information, please contact Jenny Dawkins (jenny.dawkins@ipsos-mori.com).