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College Students Tuned Into Socially Responsible Brands: Alloy 2006 Study
A July 2006 study of US college students (ages 18 - 30) indicates that many are active volunteers and that 1 in 4 has purchased a product in the last year because it was viewed as socially conscious.
The 5th Annual College Explorer Study (a collaboration between Alloy Media & Marketing, Harris Interactive and Cone Inc.) probed the attitudes of US college students, a group with $182 billion in spending power.
Funny is good and big names still sell. However, students prefer an honest and effective social responsibility campaign to celebrity endorsements when it comes to spending their hard-earned money. In fact, when asked about factors that drive their purchase decisions, 33% prefer brands that give back to the community, are environmentally safe, or that are connected to a cause. Together these socially responsible characteristics surpassed paying more for a brand with a great image (16%) or preference for a brand used by celebrities (2%) by wide margins in their influence on discretionary spending. Substantially, one in four students (24%) has purchased a product this year specifically because it was socially conscious.
"We are seeing that today's young people expect corporations to be socially responsible and that students prefer to associate with brands that they perceive to be positive contributors to the community", said Samantha Skey, SVP, Strategic Marketing, Alloy Media + Marketing.
The student focus on social responsibility fits other survey data that together paints a picture of a socially conscientious student community that cares about causes. Almost half (forty five percent) of students are active volunteers, often taking up a cause on their own but also getting involved through school or their fraternity or sorority. Asked about motivation, students who volunteer said they do so simply to help other people (55%) and to do their part as a community member (39%). Importantly, among those students who volunteer, forty nine percent said that it makes them feel good about themselves. The report shows that helping others and contributing to good causes were far more important to students than philanthropy to help them get a job or because it looks good on their resume (18%).
The College Explorer Study asked students to name the brands they perceive to be most socially responsible. Among the top finishers were Ben & Jerry's, creator of the "Lick Global Warming" campaign, Yoplait which produces "Save Lids to Save Lives" in support of breast cancer, and Newman's Own, a company that donates all profits and royalties to charitable causes.
"In this year's study, we asked students to tell us the brands they most admire," said Skey. "We've fashioned their opinions into the Alloy U Awards, designed to recognize the companies that students perceive to be most socially responsible. We found that students were most likely to believe that companies who weave their social messaging into their brand DNA- from advertising to product packaging and events, are the most committed to their causes."
The 2006 Alloy U Award winners for "Top Socially Responsible Brands" as recognized by college students are:
1) BEN & JERRY'S
2) NEWMAN'S OWN
3) BURT'S BEES
4) YOPLAIT
5) AMERICAN APPAREL
6) STARBUCKS
7) SEVENTH GENERATION
8) NIKE
9) (tied) BODY SHOP & COCA-COLA
Walt Freese, Chief Euphoria Officer (aka C.E.O) responded, "Everyone at Ben & Jerry's is deeply honored to receive the Alloy U Award. For 28 years, we've held true to our beliefs that business can be a powerful force for change, if we only think differently. For us, that means attaching as much importance to healing the planet and promoting social and economic justice as we do to the more conventional measure of business success." Adding, "Alloy's Award means so much to us because it represents the thinking of the next generation - a generation that will shape the future of our planet and life on it. It gives us all hope that this generation will go on to make the planet and our society healthier, better, and more just and Ben & Jerry's wants to be right there with you, helping to make it happen!"
"We are thrilled to receive this tremendous recognition by today's college students, a group poised to affect change across the important environmental issues," commented Mike Indursky, Burt's Bees Chief Marketing Officer and Strategist "Burt's Bees has a long standing history of earth-friendly practices, so it's incredibly rewarding to know we are truly reaching people with our message and making a connection with this influential group."
"We're heartened to have received the Alloy U Award. I've always said that our work is not about who we are today but who we can become tomorrow", commented Jeffrey Hollender, President & Chief Inspired Protagonist, Seventh Generation. Adding, "Knowing that the next generation already understands the importance of our efforts to re-imagine that future fills me with great hope."
Adding muscle to the weight students are throwing behind social responsibility is the fact that this year's college enrollment is the largest on record, overall spending has jumped by $8 billion and their discretionary spending power has grown 12% to $46 billion.
"The college student market is now well over 17 million strong(2), and continues to grow in size and importance for marketers as the considerable influence they've gained in the past few years as technology early adopters bleeds into other areas, like social responsibility" says Dana Markow, Vice-President, Youth and Education Research at Harris Interactive. "Watch for the "greening" of the college market and their $182 billion in aggregate spending power to have a big effect on brand positioning and campaigns in the coming year."
Methodology
This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Alloy Media + Marketing among 1,793 adults (college students (full-time, part-time, 4-yr., 2-yr., aged 18 to 30) within the United States between April 14 and May 2, 2006. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, region, school status (full-time, part-time, 4-yr., 2-yr.) were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. With a pure probability sample of 1,793 adults one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
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