What makes being ethical worth it in business?
Jan 20th, 2013 by denisetian
What makes being ethical worth it in business?
As a trend today, companies are expected to take their social responsibilities throughout the operation. Companies spent billions of dollars from eco-friendly production line to working environment reinforcement, hoping to boost brand image among the public. How is being ethical a win-win for both firms and individuals?
Researches were done showing that customers are willing to pay a premium on ethical products, but will pay a large discount on unethical goods. Furthermore, the attitude to paying for ethical products is much stronger than getting unethical goods in a low price. These show potential gains of the companies with positive brand ethically in an operational field.
Apart from that, employer’s deeper needs of acting virtually are fulfilled, employees will be tied more to the companies through ethical cultural values, and consumers are satisfied by encouraging the necessity of doing the right things. Most importantly, these positive externalities plus the opportunity cost of being criticized as immoral would far off-set the cost of implementing businesses ethically.
Getting out from jungle of guilty and being ethical? Totally worth it!
Sources:
Does Being Ethical Pay? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121018735490274425.html