A study carried out by YouGov for Initials Marketing has sought to gauge the public opinion on corporate social responsibility. The research compiled the outlooks of 2000 people, from a variety of demographics, to provide an assessment of attitudes towards the topic.

Unsurprisingly, 37% dismiss CSR endeavours as mere publicity stunts and a third of those surveyed stated that they believed national organisations would never be part of their local communities.

However, 46% believed that, in order to survive, local community projects needed the assistance of private companies. 60% of people supported supermarkets providing assistance to local community projects and, interestingly, 45% approved of banks doing the same.

The preferred method of exercising an organisation’s CSR was sponsorship, 72% of people believing this to be an effective utilization of a corporation's resources. In addition, 62% believed that it was also important to help disadvantaged people get into the workplace through initiatives such as apprenticeships.

CEO of INITIALS Marketing, Jamie Matthews, said, “Some of these results seemingly go against what brands are led to believe- that a strong commitment to CSR prevails over everything else. People today expect businesses to be good corporate citizens and are suspicious of CSR initiatives that seem at odds with corporate reputation. They expect honesty around the fact that really CSR initiatives deliver win-win scenarios that are a force for social good and also maximise profits. What is key to deep reaching, behavioural changing CSR is authentic, aligned activity that is based on shared values and needs both of the business and of the community, and communicating this through relevant media channels.”