How to effectively implement CSR into your brand: Reciprocating with customers

In the eyes of consumers,  companies continue to fail at acceptably aligning purpose and social responsibility. Vapid support for social movements and greenwashing scandals have muddied the waters of what it actually means to be a purpose-driven company.³

These actions are squandering the trust consumers have in business, leading to high skepticism about the legitimacy of CSR efforts.⁴

Customers are demanding change and are willing to reward it. However, they will not do so unless CSR efforts feel legitimate – tied to a company's broader purpose. How do we align our purpose and CSR to fill the gaps of consumer trust, community, and meaning? 

To understand the dangers of failing to connect your CSR efforts to your consumers, we must understand two key facets of human behavior:

1. We tend to view ourselves as good, morally superior people.⁵
2. We heavily identify with our preferred brands.⁶ We see them as an extension of ourselves, and thus, their actions are an extension of ours.  

Increasingly, we are purchasing things that make us feel ethical, good, and just – making CSR efforts critical to retaining customers. 

Failing to make bold, tangible CSR goals exposes brands to a poisonous psychological risk: cognitive dissonance – our tendency to avoid the uncomfortable inconsistencies between our thoughts and our actions. 

If we view ourselves as highly ethical, if the brands we identify with fail to deliver, it feels personal. It makes us feel like we may not be as moral as we thought we were. This cognitive dissonance is incredibly uncomfortable, so we disengage from the brand.³

So how do we make sure that our brand’s CSR policies feel tangible, impactful, and powerful, in the eyes of our consumers?

1. Build trust through reciprocity - make big changes and broadcast them well

To get consumers on board, you must make it clear that you understand their worries and concerns. Demonstrate that you understand the difficult realities of our world, as well as your businesses’ potential implication in them. 

Patagonia’s famous “Don’t Buy This Jacket” advertisement outlined the paradox of being an eco-conscious clothing manufacturer whose products are environmentally damaging to create. Patagonia centred the conversation away from their own self-interest, instead providing consumers with actionable steps to reduce consumption. Intriguingly, this benefited Patagonia, as their sales grew 30% over the next year.⁷

Lip-service isn’t enough though. If a fast fashion company attempted to run the same ad, it would be laughable. Nothing builds trust better than demonstrating that you are willing to sacrifice in the short-term for your customers' long-term well-being. This is the basis of reciprocity – we give to those who give to us. Thus, companies need to walk the walk. 

Prior to this advertising campaign, Patagonia had been pioneering techniques in using recycled fabrics and spent a significant sum sending workers around the country to repair worn-out Patagonia clothing. Advocacy must be followed by sacrificial action. 

Even if you cannot deliver perfectly right away, reciprocity signals a genuine effort to take steps towards a better future. While Patagonia needs to produce to stay in business, they align with the customer’s desire for durable, reusable, and repairable clothing. Thus, when the consumer decides to purchase sustainable clothing, it will likely be from Patagonia. 

2.  Making CSR personal - defeating hyperbolic discounting through social norms

In this new world, simply having a good track record isn’t enough for consumers. Hyperbolic discounting (our tendency to choose smaller immediate rewards over larger future rewards) is critical in building brand connection.

For example, the future of climate change might be hazy in our minds. While we say we care about the environment, we may buy a less sustainable product if it’s a couple dollars cheaper. Regardless of our intentions, the immediate reward often outweighs the vague future benefits. 

Many CSR policies suffer from their lack of specificity. Even if a company has a stellar CSR track record, it is usually not well-communicated exactly how buying their products brings about a better future. To combat this, we need to provide consumers with salient information about how their purchase is changing the world, as well as an immediate reward for doing so. 

Social norms are the standards of behavior that we live by. Humans are social creatures who crave validation: we want to be seen as good, just, and righteous, which happens when we align ourselves with positive social norms. Aligning with these norms can feel rewarding when perceived by others. 

Marketing must explicitly link the company’s sacrifice to the consumer’s positive social norms – by purchasing this product, the customer is being charitable, just, and environmental. The immediate reward stems from this validation. 

Before Who Gives a Crap broke onto the scene in 2012, nobody felt proud about their toilet paper. The toilet paper industry is a dirty one – it is incredibly environmentally destructive, bad for plumbing, and has less-than-pleasant connotations. 

For decades, the industry has been trying to remedy their environmental reputation. The toilet paper company Seventh Generation has been making 100% recyclable toilet paper since the early 1990’s, but has failed to build a community around their solid CSR practices.⁸ 

On the other hand, there’s Who Gives a Crap, a start-up that provides a subscription-based bamboo toilet paper service.⁸ A quick search through their Instagram demonstrates how much cultural cache Who Gives a Crap commands: customers willingly post pictures of their toilet paper, restaurants proudly display it in their bathrooms, and thousands of comments sing the product’s praises. What’s the difference? 

The reason Who Gives A Crap lands and Seventh Generation doesn’t is because of their product design and their mission. 

• Who Gives A Crap has slick, recognizable packaging that operates as a social signal – using the toilet paper demonstrates the customer values charity, sustainability, and kindness.
• This marketing is backed up by action: they donate half of their profits to building sanitation facilities in disadvantaged countries, an easy-to-understand metric of change.⁸ 

Both companies have solid CSR, but because Who Gives a Crap’s method of change is tangible, sacrificial, and designed to signal positive social norms, consumer enthusiasm follows. 

What we consume defines us: our hopes, our fears, and our morals. It is no longer acceptable to simply invest in CSR - we now must make a connection. Leveraging behavioral science, we understand that CSR failS to connect when they: 

1. Fail to Reciprocate: CSR fails to show the company is willing to give up something to get consumer trust. Thus, they should broadcast that they, for the good of humanity, are making genuinely difficult business decisions. Without this, consumers do not feel like there are grounds for genuine reciprocity, minimizing trust. 
2. Ignore Hyperbolic Discounting: Without providing tangible, immediate benefits to the consumer, your grand CSR initiative may simply be ignored. As we self-identify with brands, linking your product/service to affirming social norms can help consumers feel like part of the change. 

Taken together, we can scientifically build brands that align CSR and purpose. In doing so, we can build brands that build up consumer communities, deliver meaning, and tangibly change the world. 

The Decision Lab is a behavioral consultancy that uses science to advance social good. Through our work with leading organizations in the field, we know how powerful effective CSR can be in bringing about a better world.  Thus, we are passionate about improving CSR operations at all levels — from supply chains to branding. If you are interested in revolutionizing your CSR efforts, contact us.