Forget flashy brand building to attract customers just make sure your company delivers on its core business and keeps its promises.
That is what Toronto-based advertising agency Bensimon Byrne discovered in its latest “consumerology” report, which asked 1,500 Canadians how corporate reputations affect their buying choices.
According to the report released Wednesday, three quarters of baby boomers over the age of 55 say they are heavily influenced by corporate reputation when making purchasing decisions, while women over 35 were rated as the most socially conscious.
“They have way higher expectations when it comes to companies around their reputation,” said Amanda Alvaro, managing director of Bensimon subsidiary Narrative Advocacy Media. “The boomers were growing up in an area of sit-ins and protests and really feeling that a company’s reputation impacts on their brand choice.”
Despite a need to focus on social causes, the report also found that companies must conduct their core business well if they hope to keep a strong reputation.
According to the report, more than three-quarters of Canadians rank good products and services as the defining element of a favourable company, but a focus on corporate social responsibility initiatives may be lost on some Canadians.
The report also found that only 16% of Canadians under 30 say a company’s reputation plays into their consumer habits and that they are more likely to rely on Internet sources for information about a company.
“The findings show that today’s youth are more ambivalent to corporate social responsibility than their parents are,” Alvaro said. “It seems more likely that the average 22-year-old would rather tweet, change his Facebook status or send a donation via smart phone to show his support for a cause, rather than participate physically in a youth-led march or sit-in.”
Alvaro said it may take two different strategies to attract both demographics.
“If you’re a company marketing to boomers any initiative you’re undertaking from a CSR standpoint or cause-affiliated standpoint is key … when you’re dealing with youth … they want to know about products first and CSR second.”