Chang earns rich response for good works

Conducted in March, the survey covering 300 random respondents aged 18-65 with white-collar jobs found that 32 per cent cited the Chang beer brewer's distribution of blankets when asked to name a company they remembered for doing CSR work.

"Chang is also doing a good job of spreading awareness about their CSR efforts via mass media, particularly television, which has great impact," said Andy Gower, managing director of BMRS Asia, the Bangkok-based marketing research firm that conducted the survey.

Part of a study of consumer attitudes by Vero Public Relations and BMRS Asia, the survey found that apart from Chang, respondents cited more than 50 other companies whose CSR efforts they could recall. Most of these were linked to educational projects such as scholarships and funding of schools in rural areas.

"Only 16 per cent of respondents could not recall a company that was linked to recent CSR activities," said Gower. "This is very high when compared with similar surveys conducted elsewhere. A recent CSR survey in Canada, for example, found that two-thirds of consumers could not recall a company that had undertaken CSR activities."

While most respondents (25 per cent) said that television, including news programmes, was the medium through which they most often learned about CSR efforts, 20 per cent cited newspapers, 12 per cent magazines and 12 per cent said the Internet.

Perception of the need for and practice of CSR also varies across generations, the survey found. While all generations agreed that companies should act in a socially responsible manner (with four out of five agreeing strongly with this), those in the over-30 age group were more likely to agree that companies currently do act in a responsible manner - whereas those under 30 were less convinced. The under-30s also placed more responsibility on consumers, believing they need to take a leading role in social responsibility rather than leave it solely to the government or corporations.

However, more than half of the respondents felt that their own employers made average efforts to make a positive impact through corporate social responsibility. Given that employees are a crucial audience for any company, Tantikul sees this as an issue that companies need to overcome.

"We believe that companies can rectify this situation through more internal communication," said Artima Tantikul, a senior account director with Vero Public Relations. "Internal employee newsletters may be old-fashioned, but the reality is that they are a great way to educate and inform employees about strategy, successes and, yes, CSR efforts. Mail the newsletter to employee homes on a quarterly basis and you can reach the whole family with positive messages about the company."