good companies in the age of austerity paul flatters trajectory
DESCRIPTION
Presentation from Paul Flatters, Trajectory at the CIM Good Marketing Conference, ARU Chelmsford on 30 November 2012TRANSCRIPT
Prepared for CIM Social
Marketing Group Nov 2011
Good companies in the age of austerity
Agenda
• Objectives
• Methodology
• Influences on purchasing decisions
• What makes a good company
• The relationship between the consumer and
the company
• Conclusions
Objectives
• Original research into the varying influence aspects of a
company's performance has on product purchasing.
• Identification of what values define a 'good' company and how
this changes for different genders and life stages.
• Exploring how influential 'being good' is across different sectors
including financial services, technology, food and drink and
fashion.
• Understanding of consumer perspectives on how the behaviour
of a company they purchase from reflects on them
• Assessment of the appetite for more information about a
company's behaviour and sources of information that they
would trust to tell them
Methodology
• 4 x 90 minute focus groups to explore the issues and help
define the parameters for the questionnaire
• 2005 interviews with UK nationally representative sample
• Fieldwork conducted in June 2011
Headlines: Influences on
purchasing decisions • How good a company is and how it behaves towards its customers
and communities has far more influence on consumers than its
ethical values or its donations to charities.
– Nine out of ten say ‘how good a company is’ is influential when
considering purchasing a product or service
• (91% combined ‘quite influential’, ‘very influential’ or ‘extremely
influential’)
– Nine out of ten say ‘how it behaves towards its customers and
communities’ is influential when considering purchasing a product or
service
• (90% combined ‘quite influential’, ‘very influential’ or ‘extremely
influential’)
– ‘A company’s ethics – environmental, sourcing, sustainable,
employment policies’ and ‘the company donates a percentage of
profits to charity and a good cause’ are less likely to be influential
when considering purchasing a product or service
• (60% and 53% respectfully - combined ‘quite influential’, ‘very
influential’ or ‘extremely influential’)
31
21
7
7
33
37
30
36
14
21
35
37
6
12
25
18
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
The company donates a
percentage of profits to charity or
a good cause
A company's ethics -
environmental, sourcing,
sustainable, employment policies
How a company behaves towards
its customers and communities
How good the company is
Not at all
Not very
Quite
Very
Extremely
Base: 2005
91%
91%
70%
53%
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
Being a ‘good’ company has more
influence on purchasing decisions than
ethics or CRM In general, how influential is each of the following when considering purchasing a
product or service?
↑ Women (93%)
↑ Women (77%)
↑ DE (66%) ↑ 18-24 (70%)
7
1
1
28
13
12
37
32
36
26
52
50
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Aftersales service from a
company
The price of the product or service
The quality of the product or
service
Not at all
Not very
Quite
Very
Extremely
Base: 2005
95% of those over 45 are influenced vs.
79% of 18-24 yr olds
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
Quality, price and service are
still most influential In general, how influential is each of the following when considering purchasing a
product or service?
• People associate values such as honesty (56%) and reliability
(53%) with a ‘good’ company more than ethical issues such
as sustainability (12%)
• Being ‘good’ is most influential for financial services
organisations
Headlines: What makes a
good company
Defining a ‘good’ company Honesty, reliability, responsibility and fairness are amongst the most
important factors in what makes a company ‘good’
27%
17%
12% 10% 10%
7%
4%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Product/service
quality
Honest Customer
service
Reliable Fair pricing
policy
Responsible Fair
Which word do you MOST associate with a 'good' company?
Base: 1949
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
Customer Service
Product/service quality
Fair pricing policy
Honest
Reliable
Responsible
Fair
Safe Caring
People centred Accessible Innovative
Popular Passionate
Environmentally friendly
Contributes to local
communities Sustainable
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Product related
Values
Ethics related
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
Values are key to a ‘good’
company People associate values such as honesty and reliability with a ‘good’
company more than ethical issues such as sustainability Which of the following words and phrases would you associate with a good company?
Base: 2005
↑ over-55s (68%)
↑ over-55s (60%)
↑ over-55s (43%)
↑ over-55s (19%)
Customer Service
Product/service quality
Fair pricing policy
Honest
Reliable
Responsible
Fair
Safe Caring
People centred Accessible Innovative
Popular Passionate
Environmentally friendly
Contributes to local
communities Sustainable
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Product related
Values
Ethics related
↓ 8% of 18-34 yr olds
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
Values are key to a ‘good’
company People associate values such as honesty and reliability with a ‘good’
company more than ethical issues such as sustainability Which of the following words and phrases would you associate with a good company?
Base: 2005
↑18-35 yr olds (15% popular, 13%
passionate)
↓ 18-34 (34%)
Customer Service
Product/service quality
Fair pricing policy
Honest
Reliable
Responsible
Fair
Safe Caring
People centred Accessible Innovative
Popular Passionate
Environmentally friendly
Contributes to local
communities Sustainable
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Product related
Values
Ethics related
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
Values are key to a ‘good’
company People associate values such as honesty and reliability with a ‘good’
company more than ethical issues such as sustainability Which of the following words and phrases would you associate with a good company?
Base: 2005
↑ women (21% safe, 19% caring)
↑ men say innovative (19%)
↑ women (23%
environmentally friendly,
16% contributes to the
community)
Customer Service
Product/service quality
Fair pricing policy
Honest
Reliable
Responsible
Fair
Safe Caring
People centred Accessible Innovative
Popular Passionate
Environmentally friendly
Contributes to local
communities Sustainable
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Product related
Values
Ethics related
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
Values are key to a ‘good’
company People associate values such as honesty and reliability with a ‘good’
company more than ethical issues such as sustainability Which of the following words and phrases would you associate with a good company?
Base: 2005
↓ families (52%)
↓ families (45%)
↓ families (33%)
↑ families (22%)
↓ families (40%)
↑ families (11%)
7
9
7
7
7
15
14
14
13
12
36
36
36
35
31
29
28
29
31
32
13
14
13
14
19
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Food and drink
Travel and vacations
Utilities
Technology
Financial services
Not at all
Not very
Quite
Very
Extremely
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
Being ‘good’ most influential
for financial services… How much does a company being ‘good’ influence your buying decisions when
purchasing products or services in the following categories?
14
14
10
12
10
26
24
23
18
14
35
35
38
33
35
18
19
22
25
28
7
8
7
13
12
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Fashion
Petroleum
Entertainment & Leisure
Further education
Automotive
Not at all
Not very
Quite
Very
Extremely
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
…but less influential for
petroleum and fashion How much does a company being ‘good’ influence your buying decisions when
purchasing products or services in the following categories?
Headlines: Relationship between
consumer and company
• Nearly half believe that the ‘good’ values and behaviour of a company they buy from reflect well on them (48%). Fewer
agree that the ‘bad’ values and behaviour of a company they
buy from reflect poorly on them (40%).
• Most people feel that companies have a role to play in the well-
being of communities and wider society (64%).
‘Good’ values reflect on
buyer more than the ‘bad’
7%
4%
9%
5%
44%
42%
26%
33%
14%
15%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
The ‘bad’ values and
behaviour of a company I
buy from reflects poorly on
me
The ‘good’ values and
behaviour of a company I
buy from reflects well on me
Disagree strongly
Disagree slightly
Neither agree nor
disagree
Agree slightly
Agree strongly
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
↑ Young people (56%
of 18-34 yr olds)
↑ Families (53%)
31% 42% 22%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Companies should
adopt a role in the
well-being of
communities and
wider society
Disagree strongly
Disagree slightly
Neither agree nor
disagree
Agree slightly
Agree strongly
Base: 2005
Companies have a role to play in
the well-being of communities and
wider society
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
↓ 18-24 yr olds (52%)
• Three fifths would trust ‘word of mouth’ to tell them about a
company’s good behaviour (61%), whereas only one in ten
would trust the company’s CSR reports (12%), 8% would trust
the company’s advertisements and 6% would trust packaging.
• Such lack of trust poses a significant challenge for companies
wishing to respond to the majority of people who want to
know more about a company’s good behaviour.
– Three quarters (74%) would be interested in knowing more
about the good behaviour of companies that they consider purchasing products or services from
Headlines: Sources of Trust
61%
37% 35% 34% 30%
27% 25%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Word of mouth Employees Review forums Third party
endorsement
from an expert in
the field
Comparison
websites
Newspapers Charities and
not-for-profit
organisations it
has been
involved with
What sources would you trust to tell you about a company's good behaviour?
Base: 2005
↑ Over-65s (45%)
↓ Families (32%)
↓ Families (20%)
Word of mouth highly
trusted…
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
↑ Women (65%)
↑ Men (37%)
↑ Older people (44% over 45) ↓ Families (27%)
…whilst company sources
are not aside from their employees
12% 8% 8% 7% 6% 6% 3% 3%
8%
-10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70% What sources would you trust to tell you about a company's good behaviour?
Base: 2005
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
↓ Families (9%)
Companies are little trusted… …but peer-to-peer and third party sources of information are
Word of mouth
Review forums
Endorsement from an
expert in the field
Comparison websites
Newspapers
Charities and NGOs it has
been involved with
Government Investors
Celebrities relevant in the
field
Employees
The company’s CSR
report
The company’s
advertisements
Packaging
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Peer-to-peer
Third party
Company
Employees are the most
trustworthy means for a
company to
communicate its good
behaviour to consumers
What sources would you trust to tell you about a company's
good behaviour?
↑ AB social grade(42%)
↑ AB social grade(17%)
Most people want to know
more …with almost 1 in 5 ‘very interested’ in knowing more about a
company’s good behaviour
5%
21%
55%
19%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Very interested
Quite interested
Not very interested
Not at all interested
Base: 2005
↑ Women
(77%)
How interested would you be in knowing more about the good behaviour of
companies that you consider purchasing products or service from?
Source: Great Good survey, 23 Red and Trajectory
Thank you Please contact:
Paul Flatters, CEO
www.trajectorypartnership.com
T:+44 (0)20 7902 1171