Social responsibility has little to no place in businesses. Donating a percentage or fixed amount of profits to a charity or foundation is not in the interest of investors who only wish to receive dividends. Nor is it actually in the interest of the consumer. This is true because any logical consumer would know that by donating some of its profits, the company has either raised the price to compensate or that they could be paying a cheaper price if they did not have to donate. Either way, they know they could be paying a cheaper price.

Even if we are under the assumption that everyone likes to donate, it is still not in the interest of the consumer to buy the product because of its positive societal impact. This is true because it is unlikely that the specific foundation or charity is the customer’s number one choice for donating to. So, the customer would be happier if they payed a cheaper price and donated the difference in price to their charity of choice. From this, it is clear that if a business wants to be socially responsible they must do one of two things. Either ensure that the positive public relations and any other benefits will outweigh the cost from loss of sales or give the customers the option to donate the difference in price to the charity of their choosing. For the second option the business would have to define what they consider to be a legitimate charity.