Most likely, you have found yourself in the middle of an extensive conversation on the Internet about the relative rectitude or incorrectness of the commercial practices of that brand.
It is no secret that consumers now have the power to access vast amounts of information about the companies they engage with. What might be more surprising is that consumers are using this power to determine if brands share their values; According to a 2018 Accenture study, 47% of consumers have stopped doing business with a brand due to disappointment in their stance on social issues.
Call it mindful consumerism, dollar voting, or impact investing: The reality is that researching a company's social responsibility (or lack thereof) is now an important part of the buying process.
This isn't limited to B2C brands, either - take this illustration from the Harvard Business Review, where elements of "purpose" such as vision, hope, and social responsibility are presented at the top of a pyramid that shows what really B2B buyers care.
Who decides how ethical you are?
People are investigating if your brand is demonstrating values that match theirs, but where are they looking for that information?
People will inevitably turn to search engines, news, and social media for answers, but there is one way to get ahead of the curve: add corporate social responsibility (CSR) to your marketing messages.
Many companies already have corporate responsibility policies on their websites, where consumers can view official statements and measurable actions the company has taken on issues such as pollution, fair trade, animal welfare, and waste reduction. However, far from being pure fodder for "about us" pages, CSR policies are deep wells for marketing purposes.
