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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
 There’s been a significant groundswell of ecologically-minded corporate initiatives over the past few years. This kind of corporate altruism is commonly referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or “doing well by doing good.”
The most clear and concise way to state the message is to say that by embracing strategic corporate philanthropy, companies can join this environmentally conscious groundswell and, in doing so, increase profits. Implementing a CSR plan of action is not just doing something to feel better when we have a choice not to. Rather, it is a way to embrace the supply-demand relationship, join with our customers,and find a way for both companies and society to thrive and prosper in an improved environment/world.
A commonly asked question of enterprising managers and board members is “How does this affect my bottom line?” Many companies have been surprised to learn that supporting philanthropic causes is a win-win situation. In some cases, such as the relationship between the Avon® “pink ribbon” and the Breast Cancer Foundation’s “Race for the Cure,” companies have developed a symbiotic relationship, one that enhances both brand awareness and customer loyalty. In business schools, this corporate-initiative focus is called “Cause Related Marketing.” Put simply, research demonstrates that customers are more inclined to support a product or service demonstrating goodwill toward society and the world in which we live.
How Do Save Your World Products Benefit Customers and the Bottom Line?
With this in mind, Save Your World aims to engender relationships with companies hoping to gain from the “doing well by doing good” model of corporate strategy. By designing a line of products that is ecologically sound and harmonious with a healthy and sustainable environment, Save Your World is able to promote and market itself as a viable solution to capture market share, build customer awareness of global concerns, and make this world a better place. This can be referred to as a win-win-win situation, with clients, customers and the environment benefiting from our well-respected and effectively sustainable business plan. We aim to be a leader in this field, and we encourage companies to see the bigger, more long-term picture.
As with the question of the bottom line and its sensitivity to outgoing capital and resources, we believe ecological sustainability is also a means for economic sustainability. The stronger a company’s commitment to jump onboard and increase the value of CSR, the more effectively its plan of action leads to  increased revenue, customer retention and shareholder loyalty. With Save Your World, because of the nature of our tangible, transparent environmental benefit, the bottom line is, to speak in managerial terms, the value proposition is greater than the cost.
Our customers identify clearly with the cause and are able to gain an added bonus satisfaction from their purchasing experience. Again, this is an essential, integral component of our business model, and one we are proud to say separates us from any similar products or services offering to support and partner with socially responsible corporations. CSR for the purpose of conserving space and paper is not a new idea. According to that 2007 Kelley School of Business report, “The term CSR was first formalized in 1953…referring to the ‘obligations of businessmen to pursue those politics, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of objectives and values of society.’”
A 2004 UC Berkeley business school study tells us the CSR marketing model can be divided into eight categories to delineate its intent and resulting effects: well-being, awareness, attitudes, attributions, loyalty, resilience, word of mouth, and price premium. They can be described as follows: One of the more interesting findings from the research is the feeling of well-being expressed by customers who purchase products from companies supporting a specific CSR cause. The report goes on to say customer “awareness of the CSR activity that specific companies engage in enhanced their sense of well-being.” Such a sense of well-being leads to greater patronage and effectively increases the company’s bottom line.
Key Marketing Concepts
Awareness can be described as the ability of a  company
to capture audience attention and thereby motivate a purchasing decision. When a company places its advertising and marketing muscle behind specific causes, awareness of those causes and the company’s relationship with those causes increases.
Attributions are a tricky element, as they can really muddle the philanthropic intent behind a particular cause. For instance, if a cigarette manufacturer supports a lung cancer charity, both entities will suffer from perceived conflict of interest and experience public downgrading. On the other hand, with a partner like Save Your World, a company’s involvement with a thoughtfully conceived and socially conscious cause will affect customer attributions in a positive way.
Loyalty is a real goldmine when it comes to building market share and improving the bottom line. The UC Berkeley research shows “companies that are perceived to have distinguished themselves on the CSR platform seem to enjoy a loyal following.” The research indicates that if a company continues supporting a cause in which it believes, its customers will continue to return. The idea that a customer can make a difference in important social issues by purchasing a product is a key contributor to positive attitudes and customer loyalty.
© CI, Russell A. Mittermeier / Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja): The most
powerful eagle in the world, weighs ten to eighteen pounds with a
wingspan of about seven feet. Destruction of their home, the
rainforest, has this species on the endangered list, and most forests
only have one nest every ten or fifteen miles.
Resilience is similar to loyalty, but refers more to a customer’s willingness to overlook negative issues with a company if he/she is aware of the company’s meaningful philanthropic efforts. The research report refers to this as “building a reservoir of goodwill.”
Word of mouth is the magical marketing tool that keeps on giving. Hollywood studios know this one all too well; it can be the most effective way to increase revenue using a marketing mechanism built into the system. One of the key outcomes of the positive CSR initiative is consumer willingness to talk positively about the socially responsible company.
 Price premium which is finally, and maybe most significantly, the idea, which gets back to the value proposition is greater than the cost conclusion. The Berkeley research clearly states, “Consumers [are willing] to pay a higher price when the additional money, or at least a part of it, is clearly earmarked for CSR-specific activities,” such as saving a rainforest in Guyana with Save Your World. This is the bottom line: You get more bang for your buck. Webster’s Dictionary defines ecology as the “interaction between living organisms and their environment.” The same venerable source for the effective spelling and understanding of words also describes economy as “the careful or thrifty management of resources.”
© CI, Marcelo Arze / Black caiman: The biggest predator
in the Amazon basin, this endangered carnivorous reptile
grows to at least 13 feet in length.
Conclusion
With that in mind, in addition to the results of the market research conducted by such institutions as the Harvard Business School, the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, and the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, consider the thinking behind the statement, “ecological sustainability creates economic sustainability.” If we are in the business of procuring and preserving customers, then we are also obligated to entertain novel concepts for increasing customer satisfaction and developing brand loyalty and awareness. This is where Save Your World and our personal care products—sold under the brands Save Your Skin™, Save Your Hair®, Save Your Body®, Save Your Lips™ and Save Your World®—fit right into a company’s purchasing plans.
Over the last hundred years, and continuing today, the likes of Andrew Carnegie, J. Paul Getty and John Rockefeller have made sizable contributions to start, grow and maintain social and cultural institutions such as museums, universities and entertainment centers. The idea is simple: give to the common good, and the common good will give to you. Over time, corporate philanthropy has become a mainstay in achieving successful market relations and valuing brands.Indeed, some circles refer to this as “passion branding,” or tying heart strings to purse strings.
At Save Your World, we believe in our cause and stand behind our methods. Our products  are environmentally safe, free from animal-testing, and devoid of negatively perceived aspects, such as parabens, 1, 4 Dioxane or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. In addition, we create a tangible benefit or result customers can easily comprehend, and with which they can identify and actively engage. The beneficial result is both transparent and dense with value: 1 Product = 1 Acre of Rainforest Saved for 1 Year and now is being brought to the Hospitality Industry under our Earth Friendly Logo.
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References:
i. Falck, Oliver and Stephan Heblich. 2007. “Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing Well by Doing Good.”
ii. Kelley School of Business, U. Indiana. Gourville, John T. and V. Kasturi Rangan. 2004. “Valuing the Cause Marketing Relationship.”
iii. Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. Bhattacharya, C.B. and Sankar Sen. 2004. “Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives.” Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. |
