Social Responsibility and Financial Return: A Case Study on Sustainability Marketing

Open Access
- Author:
- Hingada, Juan Miguel
- Area of Honors:
- Business (Berks/Lehigh)
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Ada Leung, Thesis Supervisor
Sandy Feinstein, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Social Responsibility
Sustainability
Marketing
Buying Behavior - Abstract:
- In today’s economic world, sustainability has become increasingly prevalent for many businesses. Sustainability in a business can take many different forms and is a way for companies to incorporate more socially responsible initiatives into their business model. This study focuses on two forms of social responsibility: environmental factors, which looks into how a company’s products, services and practices incorporate the reduction of environmental harm, and philanthropy, which regards companies affiliated with certain social causes and not-for-profits. To determine how these forms of social responsibility affect consumer’s buying behavior, a survey was used to measure the attitudes, perception, behavior and buying intention for sustainable products. The results of the survey showed a negative correlation between materialism and buying intention, but a positive correlation between consumers’ attitudes toward sustainability and buying behavior. This signifies that the more materialistic a consumer, the less likely they are to purchase sustainable products, but consumers who saw themselves or a certain company as socially responsible, are more likely to purchase sustainable products. While sustainable behavior, such as recycling, has no direct relation to sustainable buying intention, price was found to have a significant influence. Specifically, consumers are willing to pay up to how much an alternative product would cost, but not more for a sustainable product. Suggestions for further research are also discussed, along with implications for businesses and companies.