Putting your money where your values are

You are at the grocery store and have to choose a brand of ice cream.  Which one do you choose and why? A class full of graduate students rattled off many reasons for their decision: cost, texture, fat content, natural ingredients, flavor.  When was the last time you chose the ice cream based on the company with the biggest commitment to social responsiblity?  This question was posed by Paul Bloom, professor of Corporate Social Impact Management and faculty director of Fuqua Business School's Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE).  For many of us, it was one of the last factors we considered.  However, the tide is starting to change.

Investors and consumers are demanding more transparency from corporations.  In this world of greenwashing and marketing, it is hard to know who is doing good and who isn't without doing extensive research.  Many groups have developed standards and ranking systems for measuring corporate social responsibility (check out Good Corporation, Climate Counts, and the Global Reporting Initiative for some examples).  These measurements are more accessible than ever with the internet, yet the websites are mostly tailored to investors and not the common consumer.

That may change with websites like Zumer that are designed specifically to help consumers align their buying decisions with their values (see video above).  Consumers can look up a product (i.e. shoes, car, etc.), specify which values they consider most important, and then get a list of companies and their respective rankings.  Right now, Zumer has over 550 companies, 2200 brands and 4500 products (see blog).  There is also a wiki integrated into the site, allowing for collaboration among the visitors to the site.  The power of Web 2.0 and the rising importance of social responsibility to consumers have the potential to change business as we know it. 

So next time you make that big purchase, think about what values you are supporting with your dollars.