CB BureauFilipinos are the world’s most
socially-conscious consumers, research firm Nielsen declared in a statement
announcing the release of the Global Survey of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Eight in 10, or 79 per cent, of Filipino consumers ‘are more willing to pay
extra for products and services that come from companies who are committed to
making positive social and environmental impact…,’ the survey claimed to
have found.
The result was the highest worldwide, well
above the 55 per cent global average. Consumers in other Southeast Asian
countries such Vietnam (73 per cent) and Thailand (71 per cent) also said they
would pay more for products made by socially responsible firms.
‘We see the strongest propensity to buy
socially and environmentally responsible brands among consumers in emerging
markets such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, where consumers face
extreme levels of poverty and frequent encounters with natural and
environmental disasters,’ Nielsen Philippines managing director Stuart Jamieson
said in the statement. Consumers in these markets are looking for brands that
are committed to supporting local communities and improving the state of the
environment. Jamieson urged brands to ‘act fast to address this rising demand’.
Seventy-six per cent of the Filipino
respondents said that in the past six months they had purchased at least one
product or service from a company committed to a social or environmental cause.
Eighty-two per cent also said they checked a product’s packaging before buying
to ascertain whether the brand was committed to positive social and
environmental impact.
‘Consumers are highly influenced and
informed by packaging when it comes to recognizing socially and environmentally
conscious brands,’ Jamieson pointed out. ‘To help consumers in their purchasing
decisions, brand owners need to clearly state their position on and commitment
to such causes,’ he said.
The Global Survey on Corporate Social
Responsibility was conducted in February and March, polling more than 30,000
consumers online in 60 countries across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America,
the Middle East, Africa and North America.