British Columbians Weigh In On Corporate Social Responsibility

Vancouver, BC-- A new BC Ipsos-Reid poll reveals that two-thirds (65%) of British Columbians give BC companies and organizations solid marks for being socially responsible. The marks are not stellar, however, as fewer than one-in-ten (7%) British Columbians rate BC companies and organizations as doing a "very good job" when it comes to doing business in a socially responsible way. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) residents say companies are doing a "moderately good job" of conducting their business in a socially responsible way. In contrast, three-in-ten (30%) residents say companies and organizations are doing a "very poor job" (8%) or "moderately poor job" (23%).

While this may sound like good news, these numbers are really no different than what was seen in Ipsos-Reid research in 2001. At that time, Ipsos-Reid found 60% of BC residents giving companies and organizations solid marks for conducting their business in a socially responsible way (7% "very good job" and 53% "moderately good job"). "Given the interest in corporate social responsibility over the past two years, it is somewhat surprising that we aren't seeing higher marks for BC companies and organizations," says Kyle Braid, Vice President at Ipsos-Reid. "An increase of 5 points is nothing to get excited about."

While British Columbians may be watching and evaluating, they are fairly pessimistic about their ability to influence companies to adopt socially responsible practices. Five-in-ten (51%) British Columbians do not believe they can have any real influence on BC companies' corporate citizenship: three-in-ten (31%) say they have "not very much influence" and two-in-ten (20%) say they have "no influence at all". Only about one-in-ten (11%) residents believes they can have a "great deal of influence" on whether a company is socially responsible. An additional four-in-ten (38%) say they can have "some influence".

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted as part of the BC Reid Report's Special Feature Report on Corporate Social Responsibility. The poll was conducted between May 6 and May 13, 2003 among a representative cross-section of 800 British Columbian adults. These data are statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional, age and sex composition reflects that of the actual BC population according to 2001 Census data. With a provincial sample of 800, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results are within 1773.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult BC population been polled. The margin of error will be larger for population sub-groups.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Kyle Braid
Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid
(604) 257-3200