Corporate Social Review Magazine 1st Quarter 2012 | Page 7

TALKING POINTS
According to the old saw
there are lies, damned lies …
and statistics.

I

n truth it is possible to make almost any argument
if you carefully select your numbers. It would, for
instance, be possible to use statistical measurements to argue convincingly that Stephen Spielberg
does not, in fact, exist. *
This being said, asking questions is kind of what journalism is all about and statistical studies do represent
an awful lot of questions asked to an awful lot of people. While we were preparing this launch issue, we
took a look at some Nielson research numbers to see
if we could get any sense of South Africa’s attitude to
social issues.
According to Nielsen’s Global Citizenship Study this is
how their South African respondents answered some
key questions:
•

48% of South Africans buy products and services from a company that have implemented programmes that give back to society.

•

45% do business with companies that have implemented programmes that give back to society.

•

42% work for a company that has implemented
programmes that give back to society.

•

43% invest in companies that implemented programmes that give back to society.

When asked what causes they thought companies
should support, South Africans responded:
Environmental sustainability

68%

Support small business &entrepreneurship 67%
Create well compensated jobs
Increase access to clean water

60%

Protect animals

58%

Eradicate poverty & hunger



66%

57%

Gallo Images/Getty Images

These numbers are all well and good. But it’s what the
numbers tell us that really matters.
For instance, at first glance, our first question was
why do so few South Africans care? What?! You roar.
But look at that top question. When asked if they buy
products and services from a company that implemented programmes that have given back to society
only 48% said yes.
And yet this is the lowest bar. It does not suggest that
such social responsibility comes at a premium price
or requires a greater effort or a compromise in quality. Yet less than half of us claim to buy from socially
responsible companies.
Which is amazing when you consider that nearly half
of us claim to work for a company that has implemented such programmes and nearly half of us claim to
have invested in these companies.
Can it really be that nearly half the companies in
South Africa are socially responsible and yet half of
us do not do business with them? Or is it simply that
the socially responsible things we do are not given
sufficient attention?
There is a social and societal imperative for businesses and organisations to be good corporate citizens. And there is a clear rationale for making such
responsible activities known. Perhaps if more of us

CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW