Perception of corporate social responsibility and reputation of companies by sustainably oriented individuals

Obstoječa literatura in raziskave se ukvarjajo s spremembami, ki kažejo na vse večjo pomembnost družbeno odgovornih aktivnosti podjetij, saj te ustvarjajo številne konkurenčne prednosti. Najbolj izstopa zaznan ugled podjetja, kajti gre za neločljivo povezana koncepta, ki se oblikujeta v splošni oceni posameznika. Z diplomskim delom želimo raziskati pomen družbene odgovornosti in ugleda podjetij s strani trajnostno naravnanih posameznikov. Podjetja vsakodnevno stopajo v menjavo, vzpostavljajo odnose in več komunicirajo s trajnostno naravnanimi posamezniki, ki danes predstavljajo pomemben segment potrošnikov. V vzorec raziskave je bilo vključenih 215 udeležencev, ki so prek spletnega anketnega vprašalnika odgovarjali o svojem trajnostno naravnanem vedenju, zaznavanju družbene odgovornosti in ugleda podjetij. Številni avtorji ugotavljajo, da trajnostno naravnani posamezniki zaznavajo družbeno odgovorne aktivnosti podjetja in imajo posledično boljšo splošno oceno o podjetju, kar za podjetje pomeni večji ugled na trgu. Rezultati naše raziskave so pokazali, da trajnostno naravnani posamezniki rahlo zaznavajo družbeno odgovornost podjetja, sicer najbolj filantropsko. Prav tako družbeno odgovorna podjetja uživajo večji zaznan ugled pri posameznikih. Razumevanje slednjega segmenta je pomemben temelj pri oblikovanju komunikacijsko-marketinških strategij, ki s pravilnim načinom komunikacije družbeno odgovornih aktivnosti izboljšujejo dolgoročno uspešnost podjetja.The existing literature and research deal with the changes which indicate the increasing importance of socially responsible activities of companies, as they create numerous competitive advantages. The most prominent is the sensed reputation of companies, as this is the case of inextricably linked concepts which are formed in the general evaluation of an individual. By the bachelor’s thesis, we wished to research the significance of social responsibility and reputation of companies by sustainably oriented individuals. Every day, the companies enter the trade, establish relationships, and communicate more with sustainably oriented individuals who represent an important segment of consumers today. 215 participants were included in the sample of the research. They were answering about their sustainably oriented behavior, sensing social responsibility, and reputation of companies through an online survey questionnaire. Numerous authors ascertain that sustainably oriented individuals sense socially responsible activities of the company and, consequently, have a better general evaluation of the company which represents higher education for the company in the market. The results of our research showed that sustainably oriented individuals mildly sense social responsibility of the company, philanthropic the most. Socially responsible companies also enjoy a better reputation among individuals. Understanding the latter segment is an important foundation in forming communication-marketing strategies which improve a long-term successfulness of the company by the appropriate manner of communicating socially responsible activities