Are Big Food’s corporate social responsibility strategies valuable to communities? A qualitative study with parents and children

Dados Bibliográficos

ID15095481
AutoresZoe Richards (University of Wollongong, autor correspondente), Lyn Phillipson (0000-0003-2173-0291, University of Wollongong)
Ano2017
Volume20
Fascículo18
Páginas3372-3380
Data de publicação2017-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPublic Health Nutrition (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1368-9800 • E-ISSN: 1475-2727
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1368980017002051
PMID28847324
OpenAlexW2753284816
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas21

Objective Recent studies have identified parents and children as two target groups whom Big Food hopes to positively influence through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. The current preliminary study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of parents and children’s awareness and interpretation of Big Food’s CSR strategies to understand how CSR shapes their beliefs about companies. Design Community-based qualitative semi-structured interviews. Setting New South Wales, Australia. Subjects Parents ( n 15) and children aged 8–12 years ( n 15). Results Parents and children showed unprompted recognition of CSR activities when shown McDonald’s and Coca-Cola brand logos, indicating a strong level of association between the brands and activities that target the settings of children. When discussing CSR strategies some parents and most children saw value in the activities, viewing them as acts of merit or worth. For some parents and children, the companies’ CSR activities were seen as a reflection of the company’s moral attributes, which resonated with their own values of charity and health. For others, CSR strategies were in conflict with companies’ core business. Finally, some also viewed the activities as harmful, representing a deceit of the public and a smokescreen for the companies’ ultimately unethical behaviour. Conclusions A large proportion of participants valued the CSR activities, signalling that denormalising CSR to sever the strong ties between the community and Big Food will be a difficult process for the public health community. Efforts to gain public acceptance for action on CSR may need greater levels of persuasion to gain public support of a comprehensive and restrictive approach

Business · Corporate social responsibility · Persuasion · Political science · Public relations · Qualitative research · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing