Giving and your customers — a new study

Giving and your customers — a new study

We always love getting Cone Inc studies. They let us know what’s going on in the mind of consumers (at least, consumers in America).

Their very latest study is called the ‘Cause Evolution Study’ — and you can download it right here.

The full survey is stunning and well worth the 12 minutes it takes to read it. If you don’t have that time, here are what we think are some of the important numbers (oh …. And there’s a paragraph at the end that makes a crucial point we’ve been making all along the way):

• 88% of Americans say it is acceptable for companies to involve a cause or issue in their marketing. This record number represents a 33% increase since Cone began measuring in 1993 (66%).

• 85% of consumers have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about.

• 90% of consumers want companies to tell them the ways they are supporting causes. Put another way: More than 278 million people in the U.S. want to know what a company is doing to benefit a cause.

• 83% of Americans wish more of the products, services and retailers they use would support causes.

• 90% of consumers want companies to tell them the ways they are supporting causes.

• 41 percent of Americans say they have bought a product because it was associated with a cause or issue in the last year – doubling since we first began measuring in 1993 (20%).

The Big Bang
The Cone Study ends like this:

With all due respect, one-off cause promotions are a dime a dozen these days. They reach relevant consumers, but to really stand out as a notable cause leader in the next few years, companies will have to think big. Pepsi drops the Super Bowl to donate millions. McDonald’s ties the sale of every Happy Meal to Ronald McDonald House Charities...indefinitely.

It’s not just a promotion for the month of March. It’s changing what your product, company or brand stands for every day.

And embedding your giving with B1G1 is a perfect way to do that — as we put it, businesses have the power to change lives. And it’s about sharing that joy every second, every day and in every way.