CSR's Implications For Marketing Managers Today In An Essay.

Literature Review and Theoretical Foundations

In the present context of global business, “corporate social responsibility (CSR)” is one of the most widely used and proscribed term. CSR means a concept where companies work on integration of environmental and social concerns in their operations of business (Kucharska and Kowalczyk 2019). Moreover, CSR also takes into consideration of all the stakeholders with voluntary bias and their mutual interaction or symbolism. It is also known as sustainable business pledge or corporate responsibility, and corporate conscience. Due to surmounting needs of addressing environmental and social concerns of the world, global business leaders are interestingly welcoming the adoption of CSR and institutionalizing such practices as some governments like India, Denmark, Japan, etc. are decisively leading the pack from the front (Bernal?Conesa, de Nieves Nieto and Briones?Peñalver 2017). The paper aims to discuss and critically evaluate CSR with literature review and with respect to a business of the contemporary business world.

As per the “consumer culture theory (CCT)”, there is a deep cultural and social point of view to the study of consumption choices and behaviours opposing the traditional psychological or economic theories that are already in practice over the years (Hunjra et al. 2021). It is a dynamic method of unification of family of theoretical dimensions addressing changing relationships between cultural meanings, marketplace, and customer actions. According to the theory of postmodernism, CCT is a broader vision of cultural facets that provide wide meanings to consumer interests and distastes which opposed the traditional homogenous construct provided by the 19^th century American culture (Bhuiyan, Baird and Munir 2020).

CSR can be linked with CCT with the basic approach which CCT seeks to address that is the social arrangements between social resources, lived culture, material and symbolic resources on which people rely, and their mediation through market directions (Aksak, Ferguson and Duman 2016). In the interconnected system of the global marketplace, products and images that are commercially produced tend to use and construct orientated and identity-based relationship with each other. Kohl mentioned culture as the system of learned behavioural patterns certain to a particular society. It also means distinct attitudes, feelings, process of learning and transmission form one generation to others. Hence, what managers and their customers are seeking is emblematic of what sort of culture shall be instilled in CSR directives of a company. In the end, it is all about culture of both corporates and their consumers (Stein and Wiedemann 2016).

In the cultural authority model, marketers are shown as cultural engineers and are portrayed as agents that they have the capability to drive people to persuade for a branded product. All powerful brands and corporations these days use powerful means and techniques for seducing customers (Adebayo and Ogunshola 2017). Hence, it is justified to say that consumer culture is shaped via marketers’ authority. Consumers are also perceived as cultural producers how often provide modernist or reflexive resistance via disentangling themselves via knowing the real value of a product from the level of the consumers. In postmodernist resistance shown in the CCT model, consumers are portrayed as moving away from marketers’ influence via eroding their control by micro-emancipatory practices (Fandos-Roig et al. 2020).

Link with the Consumer Culture Theory

As per the “Consumers in Western Discourse about Consumption” proposed by Aldridge (2003), there are four type of images of consumers: communicator, rational actor, victim, and dupe. The rational actor types of consumers approach to decision-making by self-interest motivation and rationality (Hunjra et al. 2021). They are very tough clients or customers to fool and deceived by deceptive and grand marketing tactics (getintomarketing.wordpress.com 2014). Communicators are symbolic to conveying messages to themselves and others with instrumentality and search for social status. Victim consumers are types of consumers that made poor decision in buying in the past and are suffering due to their wrong decisions. They are also portrayed as consumers that are betrayed while buying something unwanted and due to that purchase they were fooled (Arnould and Thompson 2018). Hence, Aldridge has commented on victims that their follies, they shall not be compensated and it is due to their state of decision-making and conscious call to go for a product or service. Dupes are the last image of consumers as per Aldridge that used surveillance and control via consumption and have manipulated for their real needs. Marketers are knaves and manoeuvres their target base and hypnotise them to purchase the products they are looking to sell (Peloza and Shang 2011).

CSR belongs to rational consumer types. This is due to the fact that when this group of customers do not see rational, real, and measurable steps of companies on the ground, they are reluctant to accept a corporate as a brand that is responsible and cares for the nature. Hence, their sales may decline from such consumers. Thus, addressing them shall be a major priority (Nan and Heo 2007).

Managers shall strategically target and approach their consumers. Subculture is a very import tool to respond in this direction which is constructed from shared values, systems of common life experiences, and situations. In addition to that, subculture depends on religion, geographic regions, attitudes, religions, and nationalities etc. (Wagner, Lutz and Weitz 2009). They shall also need to look into social classes of their target segments and shall use proper means of CSR directives from their company’s point-of-view. However, CSR is often seems to be burdens for most of the companies concerning huge expenditures and imposed norms by governments (Bhattacharya and Sen 2004).

The case of Lego in the UK is a crucial example that how despite the odds, they are contributing to the society and environment and earning profits at the same time by exerting a soft power on consumers for enhancing their brand value and extension of revenues (Elvin et al. 2015). They have incorporated diversity and positive work culture in their offices, used the best energy saving techniques, and were awarded in 2019 for being the best energy saver company of the world. In addition to that, the $1 billion dollar investment that they invested in green and renewable energy resources has set examples to motivate other companies of Europe. However, Europe shall learn from India and Denmark regarding their institutionalization of CSR activities and environmental impact assessment initiatives (Fendos_Roig et al. 2020).

Consumer Type

Addressing CSR and implementing it on the ground is a crucial and challenging topic to respond properly (Hunjra et al. 2021). Risks for managers in laying CSR steps are financial challenges, hurdles due to the lack of know-how, and lesser internal will or organizational support with proper frameworks or roadmaps.  Benefits for marketing managers in installing CSR practices that it caters to the nature positively, enhances its good image and public relations, and boost sales and revenue due to its new image (Stein and Wiedemann 2016).

Marketing managers of the present day shall rely more on learning foreign languages. They shall also look for dealing with strange currencies and knowledge for dealing with legal uncertainties (Stein and Wiedermann 2016).  In addition to that, they shall be able to see safer and larger domestic market and juxtapose it with the contemporary international market just to be sure that adapting products to provide wishes and needs of different consumers are keys to success in the marketing business. A lesson form globalization and its strategic use can be learnt from the case of Japan. It is said that 85% of the market that Japanese companies have, are outside Japan. Comparing the case of 1980s’s market products were chosen as low quality with huge access to domestic markets whereas the global market post 2010s are based on internationalization of products and that too of very high quality (Bhuiyan, Baird and Munir 2020). Mangers shall also use skills of standardization for improving efficiency, enhancing consistency, and providing with added-value proposition. On the level of adaptation, managers shall learn to mitigate local circumstances, increase legal and political constraints, and cater to the cultural differences. Dodging the barriers can be addressed by using robust and comprehensive tools to avoid challenges, reaching the target audiences, and managing actions desired by consumers. This is how, managers can cater to CSR activities properly that also bolsters fair business, social and environmental concerns, and addressing needs to the society (Aksak, Ferguson and Duman 2016).  

Brief Conclusion with Concrete Recommendation for Future Strategies and Business Development

The paper discussed and critically evaluated CSR with literature review and with respect to a business of the contemporary business world (Hunjra et al. 2021). It was observed that due to surmounting needs of addressing environmental and social concerns of the world, global business leaders are interestingly welcoming the adoption of CSR and institutionalizing such practices as some governments like India, Denmark, Japan, etc. are decisively leading the pack from the front. Moreover, it was noted that mangers shall also use skills of standardization for improving efficiency, enhancing consistency, and providing with added-value proposition (Kucharska and Kowalczyk 2019). On the level of adaptation, managers shall learn to mitigate local circumstances, increase legal and political constraints, and cater to the cultural differences. Instilling green-energy resources, using less water or recycling facilities, waste mitigation techniques, investing in proper organizational culture that nurtures the nature and environmental concerns, promotion of fair, rational, and culturally sound marketing tactics shall be the roadmap for managers in the future (Bernal-Conesa et al. 2017).   

References

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Aksak, E.O., Ferguson, M.A. and Duman, S.A., 2016. Corporate social responsibility and CSR fit as predictors of corporate reputation: A global perspective. Public Relations Review, 42(1), pp.79-81.

Aldridge Identifies Different Types Of Images Of The Consumer (2014). Available at:

https://getintomarketing.wordpress.com/2014/09/08/aldridge-identifies-different-types-of-images-of-the-consumer/ (Accessed: 25 March 2022).

Arnould, E.J. and Thompson, C.J. eds., 2018. Consumer culture theory. Sage

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