Communication is critical to raising consumer awareness


Raising the workforce awareness of the importance of becoming change agents, so that their consumption choices can have a positive effect on the society. This was the concept that guided the activities of the workshop “Engaging the Consumer in the Construction of a Socially Responsible Market”, held by the Akatu Institute at the 2008 Ethos International Conference.

The 150 participants in the workshop discussed three challenges: how the company can help the consumer to understand what corporate social responsibility is all about and realize that this is a continuous improvement process; how to provide the consumer with reliable information on CSR practices; and how to create a two-way channel so that the consumer can comment on and make suggestions about companies’ CSR practices. Each focus was inserted in three performance axes: company, economic sector, and government.

“Our overall idea in this workshop is to change the qualitative and quantitative levels of relationship between the company and the consumer, from the social responsibility perspective, in the construction of a socially responsible market,” said Helio Mattar, president of the Akatu Institute, who presented the results of the survey Responsabilidade Social das Empresas – Percepção do Consumidor Brasileiro 2008 (2008 Social Responsibility of Companies – Brazilian Consumer Perception) to the participants.

According to Mattar, the survey found that Brazilians are still not as active as they say they are when it comes to seeking information about companies, and most people admit they have “uninformed interest”. In other words, the consumer wants to know about the companies’ social responsibility practices, but they neither know where to find information about them nor bring their interest into action. “We need to raise consumer awareness of their role in developing social change for a sustainable world,” he says.

Among the proposals put forward by the participants, the most important ones are educational communication actions so that people can better understand corporate social responsibility. “Products and workforce are powerful communication channels. Therefore, the best way to educate the consumer for conscious consumption is an effective communication,” comments Aron Belinky, Akatu Institute consultant.

The good ideas raised and the interaction among participants made Helio Mattar suggest the creation of a self-managed work group to further develop and put into practice the proposals discussed in the workshop. “We must advance these ideas to make a cultural change and build a sustainable society,” he explains.

The workshop’s proposals, as well as all other proposals presented by the Conference activities will be available for reference on the Ethos Institute website.

Source: Ethos Institute

 

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