Annual Review:

CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS OF COMPANIES TO ADDRESS SOCIAL ISSUES

INTRODUCTION

One of the ultimate tests of social consciousness is a bad economy. Everyone must be able to meet their basic needs (and those of their family) before they can care about a social issue, especially one that doesn’t affect them at the moment.

Both Germany and the United States have faced economic challenges in 2022 with few expectations of recovery before next year:

Germany’s economy is stalled under the weight of refugees and an embargo on Russian oil, both the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned in June that “rising inflation is reducing household purchasing power, … investor and consumer confidence have collapsed and supply chain bottlenecks have worsened” since the COVID pandemic.
In the US, the Associated Press reported slight economic growth in the third quarter, “snapping two straight quarters of economic contraction and overcoming punishingly high inflation and interest rates” for many months prior. Consumer spending also began to grow as exports and government spending rose for the first time in months.

When their transportation, health or employment is insecure or unstable, no amount of corporate influence can get people to respond to a company’s social issue campaign, program or initiative. As this research shows, economies and social good are inextricably linked whether one is a German or an American.

Definitions

Social Mindset: A perspective that approaches decisions and actions with their impact on society in mind (e.g., police reform, hunger, discrimination, immigration).

Corporate Social Mind: Companies must develop eight traits to have a corporate social mindset: 1) Decide with society in mind, 2) live the company’s values, 3) use resources for society’s benefit, 4) listen before acting, 5) have a social voice, 6) lead social collectives, 7) measure social impact and 8) innovate for social good. The Corporate Social Mind: How Companies Lead Social Change From the Inside Out. Fast Company Press

Purpose

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This study is an annual review of the public’s expectations of business as social moments and movements occur and mature in two countries: Germany and the United States. The ongoing examination arose from the book The Corporate Social Mind: How Companies Lead Social Change From the Inside Out by Derrick Feldmann and Michael Alberg-Seberich, which defines the social mindset needed by today’s companies in the face of these expectations and how to weave this mindset throughout the company.

Methodology

A quantitative approach was taken with an online survey fielded October 2022 to collect data about attitudes and activities in Germany and the United States related to corporate involvement in social issues. The survey had 2,000 US and 1,000 German respondents from a nationally representative sample (Census projected), producing a 95% confidence interval with a 5% margin of error for the German data and a 2.5% margin of error for the US data. This report highlights differences between the countries of at least 5%.