Industries have to rethink their value creation processes in a sustainable perspective. In order to satisfy their stakeholders and pursue the well-being of society in the long term, manufacturers must operate under corporate social responsibility (CSR). Embodying the identity of multiple stakeholders, consumers are the key to ensuring the success of sustainability efforts. This chapter analyses the relevance of CSR from the perspective of consumer perception, which has been neglected thus far in literature. The chapter also embraces the idea that CSR and sustainable consumption are two sides of the same coin that need to be integrated in order to create sustainable industrial value. After the theoretical background, this work presents and discusses the results of an empirical research focused on an emblematic industry and brand. The findings support the idea that although a company is trying to seize Industry 4.0. opportunities for sustainability, its efforts can be partly hampered by consumers' lack of perception or their misperception.
TopIntroduction
The issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be considered a mega-trend that is widespread among manufacturers that are increasingly becoming aware of how their response to the challenge of sustainability can affect not only their competitiveness but also the very survival of their business. Indeed, each organization has the task of determining the needs of the target market and satisfying these more effectively and efficiently than the competition does, creating value and preserving or increasing the long-term well-being of consumers and society (Kotler et al., 2012). As key players in promoting global sustainable development, organizations nowadays have to create sustainable industrial value (Stock et al., 2018). In recent years, the creation of this value has undergone radical changes caused by the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, which poses new challenges to global sustainable development. Indeed, the paradigm of Industry 4.0, first defined by Kagermann (2011), is significantly influencing the structure of the manufacturing industry through the establishment of smart factories, products, and services and their integration into the Internet of things (IoT) and IoT services (Stock & Seliger, 2016). A recent research (Stock et al., 2018) has highlighted that the potential for sustainable value creation in Industry 4.0 is not easy to realize because it offers not only considerable opportunities but also different threats both in a macro perspective (at the level of business models, value creation networks, and product life cycles) and a micro one (assessment of the value potential of the individual factors of industrial value creation, such as the product, process, organization, and equipment). In brief, several authors (Stock & Seliger, 2016; Stock et al., 2018) have pointed out that the potential for sustainable value creation in Industry 4.0 has yet to be investigated through further studies (Bonilla et al., 2018; Kiel et al., 2017; Muller et al., 2018).
Although there are different definitions of sustainability, which are often focused on the environmental dimension, a consensus is spreading among scholars at the international level (Hoffman & Bazerman, 2007; Sheth et al., 2011) to conceive of sustainability in three dimensions: economic, environmental, and social (Jackson, 2009). The definition of the CSR construct, which will also be adopted in this research is as follows: “a firm's commitment to maximize long-term economic, societal and environmental well-being through business practices, policies and resources” (Du et al., 2011, p. 1; Alvarado-Herrera et al., 2017). From this perspective, a manufacturer's objective of sustainability represents a triple responsibility in which the evaluation of the company's results focuses on the fusion of economic performance and environmental and social impact. This awareness seems widespread among many leading international manufacturers in various sectors, such as Nike, Unilever, Ikea, Patagonia, Adidas, Lavazza, and Illycaffè (Berens et al., 2007; Franklin, 2008; McKinsey Global Survey, 2010; WEF, 2010).
However, the emphasis placed on sustainability research from a company perspective has overlooked the perception and engagement of the consumer, which by embodying multiple stakeholder identities—e.g., citizen, employee, parent and community member— is crucial for sustainability efforts to succeed (Sheth et al., 2011).
The pursuit of sustainability increasingly depends on people's consumption choices.
Sustainable consumption—also known as ethical, responsible, and conscious consumption—generally speaking can be considered a particular form of consumption pursued by those who believe they can influence the choices of companies and brands through their purchasing and consumption decisions and, thus, contribute to the improvement of the environment and society (Cowe & Williams, 2000).