Sustainability tops list of important causes for socially aware consumers: Nielsen

The Nielsen Global Survey of Corporate Citizenship, conducted in August and September 2011, included more than 28,000 consumers in 56 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America. The study focused on the beliefs of "socially conscious" consumers, defined as those who say they would be willing to pay extra for products and services because of the corporate responsibility of the product maker.

According to the study, 66 per cent of global consumers say they prefer to buy products and services from companies that have implemented programs to give back to society. But less than half (46 per cent) fall into the willing-to-pay-extra category.

Asia-Pacific comes out on top of the other regions studied for the percentage of consumers who are willing to spend more:

• Asia-Pacific: 55 per cent
• Middle East/Africa: 53 per cent
• Latin America: 49 per cent
• North America: 35 per cent
• Europe: 32 per cent

As for specific causes, the top 10 causes socially conscious consumers in Asia-Pacific believe companies should support are:

• Ensure environmental sustainability (66 per cent)
• Improve science, technology, engineering and math training and education (57 per cent)
• Increase access to technology (53 per cent)
• Provide relief following natural disasters (53 per cent)
• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (50 per cent)
• Increase access to clean water (48 per cent)

The survey confirms the importance of social media in cause marketing, according to Nielsen. Socially conscious consumers are more likely than average consumers to trust ads found on social networks, and they are also more likely than the average consumer (59 per cent versus 46 per cent) to say they use social media when making purchasing decisions.