All Bark and No Bite? A qualitative study of how changes in customer sustainability preferences affects the incorporation of CSR

Abstract: During recent years, the topic of corporate social responsibility has received a lot of attention. Within the field of research, the responsibilities of corporations have been discussed for decades, but no common ground and definition of the concept is in place. In today’s business context where the threat of climate change and other environmental challenges is growing, neither businesses nor consumers can ignore the importance of responsible businesses which are aware of the consequences they have on both the society and the environment. This study explores the strategic interest, for a corporation within the food industry, to engage in CSR related activities. Furthermore, the study shreds light on strategic challenges facing a corporation within the food industry, caused by an increased awareness among consumers regarding the impact that their consumption has on the society and the environment. The study is of qualitative character using a case study approach and a grocery store located in the south of Sweden, ICA Malmborgs Tuna is the chosen case for the study. The findings of this study show that changes in customer preferences have had a limited impact on the shaping of the CSR strategy at ICA Tuna. Customers however play an important part as they have certain expectations on the store, which are taken into consideration. Two other factors were found important when deciding which CSR related initiatives to be engaged in. The first factor was the financial impact which the CSR related initiatives had on the business, and the second factor was whether or not the initiatives were aligned with the personal beliefs of the management team. These results suggest that other corporation in the food industry must be aware of the potential gap between what customers express that they want and what they are actually willing to pay for, when it comes to different CSR initiatives. If a corporation wishes to be more involved with sustainability and other initiatives related to CSR, they should not let their customers’ demand be the main driver of their work, but rather ensure that they have someone in a managerial position, which has a personal interest in incorporating CSR into the store’s strategy.