Brand equity through corporate social responsibility: Creating competitive advantage in the food industry
Kallioinen, Laura (2015)
Kallioinen, Laura
2015
Kuvaus
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Tiivistelmä
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a broad topic. It spans many issues and stakeholders, from employees to customers. Increasing awareness of ethical issues in the food industry means that there is a greater need to implement CSR initiatives from a strategic point of view. While consumer-based research has shown the value of CSR in marketing and certain research points to favorability of products and brands in which CSR initiatives have been taken, a gap exists in determining how CSR is used from an organizational perspective and how which initiatives actually contribute to increased brand equity and therefore value.
The reader is introduced to what constitutes CSR: what is it, what does it mean, and how is it used. These issues are both relevant and important, yet interesting in that they are of different value to different people and stakeholder groups. The theory of products, brands, and brand equity are also established. A product or brand is not simply the object which we take home after a purchase, but in fact is a layered item which represents our personal expectation “cluster” of benefit, value, and culture, among others.
This study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with three companies from the Finnish food industry. Additionally, secondary sources of information were used to form an accurate idea of if and how CSR issues are visible in their communications. The results show that high importance is laid upon product-related issues such as quality, ethicality, and reliability, and these in turn influence the perceived quality of a brand. Brand awareness is seen as an aim in the reason why CSR is used in marketing, especially in cause-related marketing and sponsorship programs. The high variability of views of CSR in the participants shows that there is both a great need for further study on the topic in order to increase understanding and awareness of these issues, as well as a great need to understand how to implement this information on an operational level.
The reader is introduced to what constitutes CSR: what is it, what does it mean, and how is it used. These issues are both relevant and important, yet interesting in that they are of different value to different people and stakeholder groups. The theory of products, brands, and brand equity are also established. A product or brand is not simply the object which we take home after a purchase, but in fact is a layered item which represents our personal expectation “cluster” of benefit, value, and culture, among others.
This study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with three companies from the Finnish food industry. Additionally, secondary sources of information were used to form an accurate idea of if and how CSR issues are visible in their communications. The results show that high importance is laid upon product-related issues such as quality, ethicality, and reliability, and these in turn influence the perceived quality of a brand. Brand awareness is seen as an aim in the reason why CSR is used in marketing, especially in cause-related marketing and sponsorship programs. The high variability of views of CSR in the participants shows that there is both a great need for further study on the topic in order to increase understanding and awareness of these issues, as well as a great need to understand how to implement this information on an operational level.