BUSINESS NEWS
SA opts for expensive 'good ethics'
Posted Fri, 09 Jun 2006
A study has found South Africans are willing to pay more for good ethics in terms of products and services. More than half of South Africa's metropolitan consumers consider a company's corporate reputation when they make a purchasing decision, Professor Derick de Jongh, director of Unisa's Centre for Corporate Citizenship said on Monday. The study, by the CCC and Bureau of Market Research, found 47.4 percent of respondents preferred products or services from good corporate citizens — even when they are more expensive. "The research is consistent with international comparisons that show there is a growing emphasis on the need for enhanced corporate citizenship, policies and practices," De Jongh said at a briefing on the study's findings in Sandton, Johannesburg. The study of households in the inner city, suburbs, townships and informal settlement districts of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Durban and Cape Town showed that metropolitan consumers ranked skills development
first, followed by workplace/employment equity, education and training, health, HIV/Aids, recycling, disaster relief, environment, sports development and poverty alleviation. The BMR's head of Behavioural and Communication Research, Professor Deon Tustin, added that in the context of an increasingly competitive business environment, consumer perceptions of corporate citizenship represented a vital intangible asset. "This is clearly illustrated when you consider that 55 percent of respondents indicate they have bought a product or a service from a company because of its link to charitable causes, and 69 percent of those surveyed believe irresponsible companies should be exposed in the media, while 63 percent say they should be punished," Tustin said. "Three quarters indicated that government should play a more proactive role in encouraging greater corporate citizenship." The research also highlighted that over 75 percent of respondents expected companies to
improve the social and environmental impacts of their products and services and 66 percent expected companies to implement socially responsible practice in their supply chain. There was also "significant" consumer support for products with recycled contents and those not tested on animals. Most consumers would like clearer labelling to illustrate the social responsibility of companies. Information on nutrition, product ingredients and the country of origin was also seen as particularly important. "The research emphasised that the impact of perceptions of social responsibility are becoming more far-reaching than just the implications for consumer choice: 40 percent of respondents said that social responsibility will enhance employees' respect for the company, while about 60 percent believed that socially responsible public commitments increase employees' respect for their place of work," said Tustin.
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