Report of findings prepared for: FGI Research, Inc. May 2007 The Impact of CSR on the General Public A Nationwide Poll on Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 2 Poll Purpose Purpose: A nationwide poll to determine, in the minds of the general public : Which business drivers affect corporate reputation? How big a driver is corporate social responsibility? Should companies pay attention to Corporate Social Responsibility? What action should they take?

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 3 Does corporate America need to pay attention to Corporate Social Responsibility? Yes, because it influences purchases…  It is not the biggest purchase influence—corporate reputation and the actual product/service itself are bigger.  But 49% say CSR issues have dissuaded them from buying from a particular company. Consumers don’t think corporate America is doing a particularly good job with CSR—only 18% say they are very satisfied or satisfied. Your opportunity is among the “undecided.” Fifty-six percent say they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with corporate CSR performance. The opportunity is to make them “Satisfied.” Executive Summary

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 4 CSR is becoming more important—50% say that their concern has increased “over the last several years.” What should the prudent manager do about CSR? According to our respondents… Assess your company/industry vulnerability. For example, industries that concern consumers most are health insurance, energy, and pharmaceutical. Formalize a stance—given consumers’ increasing interest, someday someone is going to ask about your CSR philosophy. Use your usual channels to get your message out. Consumers say they look at, for example, company websites for CSR information. But actions speak louder than words. Consumers say that maintaining good employee relations, acting environmentally responsible and offering safe products are more influential than brochures. Executive Summary

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 5 Data Collection  Respondents were initially contacted via invitation to take an online poll.  minute interviews were conducted between May 16 and May 22,  The sample was derived from the FGI SmartPanel and consisted of U.S. adults, ages 18 or older. Methodology

Detailed Findings

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 7 CSR is an influence on consumers… …but not as big as a company’s overall reputation. Ex. Three-quarters said that when purchasing a car or major appliance, they were influenced by a company’s reputation; half were influenced by a company’s CSR. Q1. Please rate how likely your decisions are to be influenced by a company’s reputation when doing any of these following activities. Q7. How likely are your purchasing decisions to be influenced by a company’s corporate social responsibility when doing any of the following activities? Company’s reputation Company’s CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 8 CSR also influences corporate reputation… Customer Interaction CSR Corporate Communications Q2. Please rate how likely each of the following statements influence your perception of a company’s reputation. …but not as much as a company’s goods and services.

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 9 Impressed you enough to actively buy or do business with them? (Q4) Discouraged you from doing business with them? (Q5) Has a corporation’s corporate social responsibility ever… CSR affects consumers’ purchase of goods and services… 34% 49%

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 10 And CSR has other influences on the public… Q6. How much of an influence is CSR when you are considering whether you will:

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 11 Consumers aren’t satisfied with corporate CSR efforts… Satisfaction with CSR Performance The opportunity is among the “neutrals.” Be proactive to move them to the “satisfied” camp. Dissatisfaction outweighs satisfaction.

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 12 …and they're getting more concerned: Change in Concern Q9. How much would you say your level of concern regarding corporate social responsibility has increased over the past few years?

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 13 Incidentally, they don’t object to the government stepping in…

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 14 Certain Industries are more at risk… Note: The percentages shown are Bottom-2-Box, or the combined percentage of respondents who said they were “somewhat” or “not at all satisfied.” Levels of dissatisfaction with selected industries…

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 15 Here’s what CSR is important to them… What is the ONE most important aspect of CSR…

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 16 A considerable group is unhappy with the amount of available info on CSR… Satisfaction With Amount of CSR Information Available

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 17 And a notable percentage is unhappy that it is hard to find info on CSR… Ease of Finding Information

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 18 Incidentally, here’s where they’ll look: Q13. Which of the following have you used to learn about a company’s social responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 19 Does corporate America need to pay attention to Corporate Social Responsibility? Yes, because it influences purchases…  It is not the biggest purchase influence—corporate reputation and the actual product/service itself are bigger.  But 49% say CSR issues have dissuaded them from buying from a particular company. Consumers don’t think corporate America is doing a particularly good job with CSR—only 18% say they are very satisfied or satisfied. Your opportunity is among the “undecided.” Fifty-six percent say they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with corporate CSR performance. The opportunity is to make them “Satisfied.” CSR is becoming more important—50% say that their concern has increased “over the last several years.” What should the prudent manager do about CSR? According to our respondents… Assess your company/industry vulnerability. For example, industries that concern consumers most are health insurance, energy, and pharmaceutical. Formalize a stance—given consumers’ increasing interest, someday someone is going to ask about your CSR philosophy. Use your usual channels to get your message out. Consumers say they look at, for example, company websites for CSR information. But actions speak louder than words. Consumers say that maintaining good employee relations, acting environmentally responsible and offering safe products are more influential than brochures. Summary

Appendix: Demographics

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 21 Respondent Demographics N=1001 unless otherwise noted.

Corporate Social Responsibility Poll 22 Respondent Demographics, continued