Daily Research News Online no. 2691 - MORI Extends Study on Corporate Social Responsibility

MORI Extends Study on Corporate Social Responsibility

October 22 2003

The MORI Reputation Centre is launching a second wave of its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) study among members of the British public. The first results from the new multi-client study will be available next March.

The CSR studies, part of MORI's Key Audience Research programme, report in Spring and Autumn each year and are based on in-home face-to-face interviews with a representative sample of c.2,000 members of the British public. MORI has run CSR studies every year since 1990, and according to Jenny Dawkins, head of MORI's CSR research, the last two years have been fully subscribed. 'This second wave means that we can provide critical information to at least another 10 organisations on how they and their CSR activities are perceived'.

The study enables companies to benchmark the public's perceptions and expectations of their CSR activities against three chosen competitors, as well as a wide range of other companies in various sectors. Clients can tailor questions to probe opinions on specific issues or measure awareness of their CSR initiatives, in order to fine-tune their strategies. They also gain access to a range of contextual information, for example on public attitudes to communicating CSR activity, and the impact of CSR on purchasing behaviour.

The importance of responding to public concerns - and therefore of being aware of the public mood in the first place - is shown by the charts below, which illustrate the gap between public requirements from companies and current perceptions of their performance / attitude. Half the population think that companies do not listen and respond to their social and environmental concerns, but more than eight in ten say a company's social responsibility is important in purchasing decisions.

Further information about the CSR study is available from Jenny Dawkins - jenny.dawkins@mori.com