Defining the "Responsibility" part of CSR

These days it's hard to visit any kind of store without seeing green products everywhere (some of companies and the products behind them are greenwashed, to be sure, but that's not precisely the focus here). Shopping responsibly is one of the ways in which which we can be a global citizen, by making a small change in our pre-existing habits.

According to a the BBMG Conscious Consumer Report, 77% of U.S. consumers believe they "can make a positive difference by purchasing products from socially or environmentally responsible companies." The report goes on to segment consumers into four groups:

• "Enlighteneds" (10% of consumers) go out of their way to reward companies that align with their social goals.
• "Aspirationals" (20% of consumers) balance their ideals with convenience and often switch between social concerns, availability and price.
• "Practicals" (30% of consumers) look for convenience and prioritize products based on price, quality and energy efficiency.
• "Indifferents" (40% of consumers) are the least motivated by social concerns, and their purchasing drivers revolve around price, quality, convenience and products manufactured in the U.S.A. [On this last point, I would say the purchasing based on origin, i.e., products manufactured in the U.S., is not exactly being "indifferent" to social concerns].

This segmentation analysis (note, I have not read the full report, just the synopsis) tells me that there is opportunity here for companies to further engage their customers in a broader dialogue about social responsibility, or move beyond dialogue and knowledge to mobilization and action. This is especially the case for companies that target the "enlighteneds" and "aspirationals."

I suppose that some companies feel that they already do this, like the supermarkets that ask you to donate money to breast cancer research and other charities when you're at the checkout. Or the big box merchants that have posters that advertise what the company is doing for education, poverty reduction, etc. These are all worthwhile activities... don't get me wrong. But I think that companies miss an opportunity here to inform and educate customers on the very same issues that they (claim to) care about.

My question is: if [insert a company's social cause/mission here] truly is what a company believes, do they also have the responsibility to engage their customers in a way that inspires them to act? To be sure, companies are still struggling to make "corporate social responsibility" work in such a way that helps to drive business value and maintain competitive advantages... why take on the added responsibility of mobilizing consumers for social change (besides the obvious PR advantages)? I think Clif Bar is a pretty good example of that.

For more on CSR, read about what consultancies such as SusatinAbility and Saatchi & Saatchi S are doing to help companies such as Starbucks and Wal-Mart to figure out what CSR means in the context of their respective organizations.