Extending CSR Accreditation Brands It May Not Always Work

Abstract

Firms around the world are seeking to demonstrate that they take their corporate social responsibility seriously. One way that they can do this is to have their activities verified or accredited by independent bodies, such as Fairtrade. Originally established in the agricultural and primary good sector, Fairtrade seeks to ensure firms treat suppliers and their employees fairly (i.e., Fairtrade coffee, Fairtrade chocolate, etc.). Ethical supply chains are important to a range of sectors; the question is whether this accreditation enhances the image and reputation of those goods outside of traditionally accredited product categories. We undertook a study where we examined whether having Fairtrade accreditation affected consumers’ assessments of sports shoes. There were three studies. First, we identified whether young consumers (i.e., university students) felt Fairtrade accreditation was linked to sports shoes. We then undertook two experiments with regular shoppers to see how they assessed the social responsibility of real brands of sports shoes using Fairtrade accreditation. The results suggested that even though consumers believe that Fairtrade did relate to sports shoes, the inclusion of this accreditation did not increase consumers’ assessment of the sports shoes’ social responsibility. We then sought to activate this association by using taglines that were linked to supply chain issues, but this had no effect on consumers’ assessments. The results suggest that even when CSR accreditation is relevant to a product, it may be possible that there is not sufficient fit for consumers to make the connection. The Fairtrade logo may have done such a good job in establishing itself as an accreditation in the primary sector that it may not be able to extend to other sectors without an investment in brand building. For firms that seek to obtain accreditation, they need to align with organizations that have credibility in both the product category and the sector.