The goodpurpose® study is Edelman’s annual global research that explores consumer attitudes around social purpose, including their commitment to specific societal issues and their expectations of brands and corporations. The survey was conducted in 16 countries among 8,000 adults, and is the only global, longitudinal study of its kind.
It’s clear to see from this study that companies that integrate social purpose into their brands are becoming the new normal. Consumers are becoming increasingly more mindful of the need for profit to intimately tie itself to good.
Here’s Edelman’s slide-deck of their findings:
Global Deck: 2012 Edelman goodpurpose Study
View more presentations from Edelman Insights
Profit + Purpose: The New Normal
While I agree that purpose is going to once again be important in business, these kinds of studies are often misleading. One of the quotes going around Ideation this year was that something like 80+% of young people would prefer a socially responsible product to one that wasn’t. I totally believe that 80% of people responded that way but that is certainly not how they behave. If that was the case then Project 7 would be one of the largest providers of mints in the country.
When it costs nothing and there is no discernible difference people will say they prefer to do something good. They get the psychic benefit of doing good without the cost. When it comes to customer decisions I think we have yet to see the data point that out.
I definitely think some companies will be able to capitalize on that trend but I don’t think it will be the radical shift some people believe. I could totally be wrong but I think there is a huge difference between survey response and consumer behavior.
Profit + Purpose: The New Normal
Thanks for your comment Andrew.
I agree. It’s definitely a gap between a customer’s preference and convenience. I think figuring out how to overcome that gap will be important to figure out (if possible).
Good note.